Hot Shot's Childhood
by DarthAnimus
Summary: Armada Universe - This story follows through Hot Shot's first years after attending to the Glismax Academy.
1. Towards Life

**Hot Shot's Cildhood**

**Part 1**

**Towards Life**

When Hot Shot received his sixth upgrade, he knew that he was mature enough for school. When his family died in the attack of Clairos-sector, Hot Shot had been the only survivor from his family. Many autobot-children were orphans because of the war, so there had been built orphanages for the children without a family. Hot Shot had spent only a year in an orphanage, but he still didn't have any memory of the family he had lost. All the time from his five first upgrades was a blank to him. He did not remember a thing. He did not have even one picture of his family.

But Hot Shot was strong. He would become a great warrior, just like his father had been. That was what he had decided. He would work hard and destroy the decepticons, who had destroyed his life and family.

Hot Shot was standing outside of the Glismax Academy's gate with many other first-years. He noticed that he was about the middle-height and that meant that he was not going to stick out because of his height. But the color of his frame! All the bots around him were reddish black, greenish grey or bluish white, but Hot Shot was bright yellow. He was not going to stick out because of his size but because of his color.

All the students were directed to the school auditorium and they were put in a row on the stage. An old male transformer had directed them to the room. He was colored mostly grey, but he had many sections in his armour that were green. The transformer had green eyes that had faded during the years and his face was grey.

"Welcome to Glismax Academy", the transformer started. "My name is Datamist and I am the school principle. Here we will decide which of you will study under which teacher. There will be four groups in all together. First I shall introduce Spiralfox's group."

Hot Shot eyed the thin, red femme transformer, and did not want to belong on her team. The femme had a dark, mean look on her face and her dark blue eyes were unreadable. Hot Shot swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

Datamist enumerated fifteen names in total, and Hot Shot was not among them. Hot Shot sighed in relief, when Spiralfox disappeared into the hallway with her students.

"Next it is time for Crushingor's group." Now Hot Shot's attention was on an unusually tall transformer, whose frame was black and had red flames pictured on it. Crushingor's eyes were evil red. Hot Shot liked this tuitor even less than the one before. Hot Shot's name was not on the list of twenty student assigned to Crushingor. He was very grateful of that.

"Next comes Smokescreen's group." Hot Shot looked at a very young transformer, who had a crane on his shoulder. A friendly smile was on Smokescreen's face and Hot Shot was not nearly as nervous as on the previous two times while the names were numered.

"SteelGlide, Speedpainer, SpiralBeam, StarHeart, Sparkly, Sparky, Lunar, Forestra, ComCom, Alarie, Hot Shot, Aqua Pulse, Flaring Blade, IceTwister, Clawer, High Voltage, Dorona and Proxim."

It took a moment for Hot Shot to realize that his name had been spoken out. He was a part of Smokescreen's group! Hot Shot walked to his teacher with his other classmates. Next to him stumbled a dark blue male bot, who had light blue stripes all over his frame. The bot's eyes were light pink and his face was pale blue.

When the bot in question almost fell flat on the floor, Hot Shot grabbed his arm on instinct and pulled the boy on his feet.

"Thanks..." the blue boy whispered, but had to stop in mid sentence, because he did not know Hot Shot's name.

"Hot Shot", Hot Shot whispered.

"My name is ComCom", the boy answered. "Maybe we could be friends?" A wide grin appeared on Hot Shot's face.

1.

Hot Shot and the others arrived to a big hall that was filled with tables. Hot Shot thought that it was the school cafeteria. Thinking of food made him immediately hungry. He had been too nervous to eat his energon earlier that day.

"Okay..." Smokescreen said to have the students' attention. Everyone turned their heads towards the older transformer. The tallest ones of the group reached the instructors hip. The shortest students reached only half-way his thigh.

"Like the most of you have already quessed, this is the school cafeteria", Smokescreen told them. "We will spend some time here, so we can get to know each other and our roommates." That said, Smokescreen sat into one of the big chairs in the hall. The front of the list on one of the walls was soon growded. Everyone wanted to know, who they were sharing a room with.

"They are three-membered groups", a girls voice pointed out. "They are in the selection order." Hot Shot thought that it meant the order they had been announced to each group.

Finally Hot Shot got to the list. He was in the group number 2. And his roommates were...

"What luck!" ComCom shouted out. "We got to share a room, Hot Shot!" Hot Shot nodded with a wide grin on his face.

"What luck", he admitted.

"So your name's Hot Shot, huh?" said a boy bot, that had a mostly black frame with a little bit of white. The eyes measuring Hot Shot were orange and the bot had a yellow face.

"Yeah, My name is Hot Shot", Hot Shot said to the newcomer.

"I'm Sparky", the black bot said. "I'm rooming with you and ComCom."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sparky", Hot Shot said.

"Thanks", Sparky said, grinning as wide as if he was trying to make sure to show every tooth he had.

"Are you probably related to her?" ComCom asked Sparky and pointed at something. Hot Shot looked at the bot ComCom was pointing at, and noticed the similarity. The femme bot was an exact duplicate of Sparky.

"She's my sister", Sparky answered. "Her name is Sparkly. We're twins."

"You can see that", ComCom said. "Do you have any other siblings?" he then asked.

"There's just me, my sister, our mom and our father", Sparky told them. "What about you guys?"

"I have a younger brother. We live alone with our mother", ComCom told them. "Our father lost his life in the battle of Caicarash."

"Geeze, I'm sorry", Sparky said.

"There's no need to apologise. Me and my brother have both gotten past it. Our mother is really stong in mental level."

"What's your brothers name?" Sparky asked.

"Sideswipe", ComCom answered. "He is three upgrades behind me."

"What about you Hot Shot?" Both transformers turned to face the yellow mech. "What kind of a family do you have?" Hot Shot hesitated for a monet before answering.

"...There's just me..." he said finally.

"Ugh, sorry that we asked..." ComCom said in a apologetic tone.

"It doesn't matter", Hot Shot said. "I don't remember a thing about them. I only know that my father was a great warrior and that's enough."

"What do you mean?" Sparky asked.

"I'm going to get revenge on the decepticons for what they did to me", Hot Shot answered. "I'm going to reach my fathers level as a warrior and destroy every decepticon I counter."

"Bleeh, don't be like that..." Sparky said. "I want to destroy a couple of them aswell." All three boys exploded into fits of laughter.

Smokescreen's voice interrupted their laughter.

"Ok, I think that it's the time to show you your rooms. Follow me." Every student went after their instructor without a question. The living quarters were in the same building with the cafeteria and auditorium. In the next building, that was alot bigger, were the classrooms. There was also a library in the same building. Even the gym was in a building of its own. It was a low but wide building, where the students practised hand-to-hand combat and fencing. There were many shooting-courses in the yard for gun-practice.

Girls and boys slept in the different sides of the building as the school rules insisted. Hot Shot did not understand why it bothered High Voltage so much. Sparky told Hot Shot that High Voltage was interested in the light pink StarSheart. Hot Shot did not know what he meant. He had not learned any figures of speech in the orphanage.

In the evening Hot Shot, Sparky and ComCom were in their room. Sparky had insisted of having the top bunk. ComCom had gotten the lower bunk. Hot Shot slept in a single-bed, that was positioned on the other side of the room. There were three working desks in the room, equipped with computers and plasma screens. They had found their time tables from their desks and there were copies of them on the computer. There was not much extra in the room. The was one cupboard for personal belongings and hooks to hang their bags from.

"So, how much did you find out about our other classmates?" Sparky asked in his typical, careless tone.

"I wasn't really paying attention. I was actually just trying to avoid looking into anyone's eyes", ComCom admitted.

"I didn't bother paying any attention to anyone", Hot Shot said. "The term begins tomorrow. We have plenty of time to figure out what kind of bots the others are..."

Sparky replied with an unrecognizable grunt.

"You guys are unbelievable!" he laughed.

"Fine then." Hot Shot lifted to a sitting position on his bed, that he had lied lazily on just a few moments ago. "What did **you** find out?"

"I thought you would never ask!" Sparky shouted in relief. "First of all those SteelGlide, Speedpainer and SpiralBeam seem to be a group of pretty nasty fellows. They will most certainly cause trouble..."

"That was one thing even I noticed", Hot Shot pointed out.

"StarHeart seems to be the daddys-little-princess type. She will probably become the most popular girl in our class. Lunar and Alarie don't talk much. Either they're geeks or they have bad self-esteem. Proxim talks with tec-terms all the time. How annoying. And High Voltage is clearly a sports man."

"I hate sports", ComCom muttered. "I'd rather just read theory..."

"There's nothing fun in that!" Sparky shouted out.

"I'm tired..." Hot Shot muttered suddenly. "I haven't had a bite to eat since breakfast..."

"Why didn't you eat dinner in the cafeteria?" ComCom asked.

"I couldn't keep anything down..." Hot Shot growled.

"Maybe you're ill..."

"I know just how you feel, pal!" Sparky shouted. "I felt like that the first time I drank level three energon..."

"Energon 3!" ComCom shouted, terrified, while jumping up fron his bunk. "That stuff is grown-ups-only!"

"That's the reason I drank it...idiot..."

"You only have six upgrades!" ComCom growled. "You could have died!"

"That's the other reason, why I drank it; the risk."

"You're a real lunatic!" ComCom muttered.

"And I'm also proud of it", Sparky said with a wide grin on his face.

"You say something about this, Hot Shot!" ComCom turned towards the yellow bot but only snores answered him. Hot Shot had fallen in recharge while the others had been fighting. Sparky bursted out in laughter and ComCom decided Hot Shot had a point and crawled into his bed. Sparky still let out a few short chuckles before falling asleep.

2.

In the morning Hot Shot woke up starving. He lifted himself into a sitting position and noticed that ComCom and Sparky were still asleep. Hot Shot stood up. He was not tired anymore. He lifted his gaze to the clock on the wall, that had been hung above the window behind the desks. On the green screen were black markings that read: 'Tsun 1.15'.

"Tsunai, 15 of the first round..." Hot Shot translated the clock's numbers. His eyes widened.

"HEY GUYS, WAKE UP!" Hot Shot shouted. Sparky and ComCom were sitting in their beds in a flash. "Breakfast has started already!" That got the two other bots going. They all grabbed their bags from the hanger and ran to the cafeteria on full speed.

'Talk about a really bad start...' Hot Shot thought while they went to the food counter. They were probably the last ones there.

"There's still a few seats free", Sparky said while pointing to a corner table.

"Good, we can sit there..." ComCom said. Hot Shot could hear relief clear in his voice.

"Excuse me", Hot Shot said to the two transformers sitting at the table. "Do you mind if we sit here?" he asked. The two transformers looked at each other for a moment and shook their heads. One of the transformers was colored blue and orange, the other was green and white.

"Thanks", ComCom said while the trio sat down.

"You must be on your last year?" Sparky asked the two larger transformers.

"Actually, we have already finished school. We're here to take part in a finishing test", the blue bot said. This transformer was a boy, even though it was difficult to tell because of his faceplate. "My name is Blurr."

"And I'm SnipeShooter", said the green bot. This one was clearly female. "And who are you little cuties?"

Hot Shot felt Sparky flinch. He felt a strange heat against his arm. Why was Sparky blushing?

"I'm Sparky."

"And I'm ComCom. We're only on our first year...OOF!" A loud clang was heard. Everyone was silent for a moment but nothing happened, so their continued on their eating. The older duo forgot that Hot Shot had not introduced himself. Pleased, Hot Shot sipped his energon drink.

3.

"Why did you go and kick me?" ComCom shouted at Sparky while they were on their way to class.

"You shouldn't have told those two that we're only at our first year!" Sparky roared.

"What difference does it make?" ComCom said. "They could see it with their own optics. We're a **little bit** too short to be their age..."

"But it wouldn't have given away that were that much younger!"

"Oh, please!" ComCom muttered. "They really wouldn't think any different about you. You would still be a brat to them." Sparky could not do anything but growl. Hot Shot sighed at his friends' fighting. Everyone they had passed in the hall had turned to gaze at the loud duo. Hot Shot hated drawing attention to himself.

4.

'Math...' Hot Shot thought and sighed. 'I hate math...' Hot Shot gazed at his working partner, Clawer. Clawer was in deep sleep and his head rested on top of the table. Clawer's frame was colored orange and it had a few dark blue sections. Clawer's face was light orange and now ofline optics were, while online-, dark purple.

In the class they had been paired-up. Sparky sat with ComCom in front of Hot Shot. They were second in the desk line. There were six rowes of desks. Every desk line had three pairs of tables side by side. So Hot Shot and Clawer had managed to get seats in the back row.

Hot Shot lifted his gaze from his partner to the blackboard. On the mechanical board there were a few **simple **calculating codes that they were supposed to write down and then learn. Hot Shot started tapping the codes on his lap-top. The others had been tapping for a full five minutes already. Hot Shot had to hurry to catch up to their pace.

On that twin-lesson Hot Shot did not learn any of the mathematic codes being taught, but he learned something else. He learned that not everybody posessed the ten-finger tapping technique that he knew with his eyes closed. He had completed the writing in half the time the others had needed.

After math there was the twin-lesson of history. In there Hot Shot also learned one thing. He learned that he hated history even more that math. It might have had something to do with the fact that the teacher gave them an essay to write on their first lesson.

The third term was the twin-lesson in repairs. Hot Shot noticed immediately that he felt ultimate disgust towards the thought of getting his hands covered in someone elses oil and straightening wires, while the patient's spark was still producing warmth to the body. On top of all that, Hot Shot had gotten Proxim as his working partner. He was not disturbed by the technical terms. He was disturbed by the fact that Proxim explained every one of the operations the teacher mentioned with too much details for Hot Shot's liking. On top of all that, the lunch hour was between these classes, and Hot Shot could not eat a bite.

The fourth term was traffic rules. Hot Shot noticed himself paying two times the attention on these lessons than on any of the earlier lessons together. Hot Shot noticed, that he was indeed very interested in learning all about the rules on roads and using different routes.

In the end of the day they they had two lessons of language. These lessons were used in learning about different main languages.. Hot Shot noticed that he was very talented in the different accents of Klauran, which was only some unreadable curls on paper to others.

After the lessons it was time for dinner. Hot Shot was very hungry after missing lunch and ate twice as much as Sparky, who looked at him with admiring eyes after the meal. ComCom on the other hand was so terrified that he had fainted.

After the dinner the trio had to get their homework done. ComCom wanted to go to the library to read some books to make his history essay perfect. Sparky wanted to forget about the whole assignment.

"What do you think, Hot Shot?" ComCom asked.

"We can do our homework later", Sparky said.

"We have history again tomorrow. Those essays have to be written **today**!" ComCom's footing was sure. Hot Shot sighed. Why did he alway had to have the deciding vote? Hot Shot pondered. Would he do the annoying essay or leave with Sparky? Sparky had said that he could transform into a race car. Hot Shot could test his speed against him.

'But then again...' Hot Shot thought and cast a sideways glance at ComCom. 'ComCom would get really upset if I chose fun over school work. Sparky on the other hand recovers quickly...' Hot Shot sighed again. 'Decisions, decisions...'

"Let's do those essays first", the yellow bot finally said. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time left for one round around the buildings after that."

Only one look at ComCom's shinings optics was enough to tell Hot Shot that he had made the right choise. Sparky only looked a little disappointed.

"You better remember, that you owe me a race, then", he said.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending notes: There are few things I'd like to point out. When upgrades are mentioned, they mean the age of the transformers. The aging goes through like this. First there comes the amount of upgrades, then the age it is reflected in human age.

1-1

2-2...

6-8

7-10

8-12

9-14

10-15

11-15

12-16

13-16

14-17

15-17

16-18

17-18

18-19

19-19

20-20...

Also, in my story, there are different kinds of energon. Here are the six types energon, and what drink they resemble. Energon=water, energon 5=milk, energon 4=soda, energon 3=beer, energon 2=champagne, energon 1=vine and X-energon=sake.


	2. The Race

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 2**

**The Race**

Later that day as the trio was walking out of the school building they still had their bags with them. They went from the library straight outside to the cool afternoon wind. Even though transformers were machines, they were able to feel temperature and pain. Transformer's senses are not as sensitive as those of organic life forms, but they could still tell if it was cold or warm even without their scouters.

"And then about that race..." Sparky was clearly eager and impatient. Hot Shot only nodded. They both handed their bags to ComCom to hold and took places side by side.

"ComCom can be the judge", Hot Shot said.

"Fine, but he can't take sides, okay?" ComCom nodded at Sparky's command.

"Lets have a fair race", he said.

"Transformation, a round aroun the gym, then return to this spot and another transformation." The rules ComCom had invented were simple and both racers nodded their agreement to them.

"Okay then!" ComCom lifted both his arms up. Hot Shot and Sparky took their starting positions.

"Ready..." Sparky licked his upper lip in concentration.

"Get set..." Hot Shot took a deep breath and grinned then widely.

"GO!"

"TRANSFORM!" The same shout came from two mouths at the same time when the two robot boys jumped to the air and transformed.

The two cars dropped to the ground at the same time, the other black and the other yellow. Dust rose up to the air when the two sped off.

Hot Shot could not believe that feeling! Never before had he drove that fast. He did not know which of the duo was leading, and he did not even care at that matter. The only thing that mattered then was the speed. And that he indeed had, speed.

Sparky was amazed to notice Hot Shot going to the lead. He had never before seen such speed. 'Incredible!' he thought. 'Hot Shot is unbelievable!' He started approaching his top speed. 'But he still won't beat me...'

ComCom gazed after the duo, mouth hanging open. Those two were fast. ComCom had never before seen any transformer with six upgrades drive like that.

Hot Shot had just sped infont of Sparky in the start, but now Sparky was gaining speed and closing in on the yellow car. This race could end one way or the other.

Hot Shot got his sense of reality back just at the first turn. He heard Sparky approaching with incredible speed and turned the corner in a thight curve that almost had him touching the gym wall. Hot Shot could have added some more speed if he wanted or needed to do so, but it was for the best if he tried not to strain himself. Hot Shot had to turn two times and was now headed for the goal.

Just when Hot Shot thought he had sured his victory, Sparky succeeded in speeding past him. Hot Shot changed his mind and decided that it was better to add some more speed.

Sparky almost shrieked from plain joy, when he got past Hot Shot. He had to go to his very limit to get past the yellow bot. Hot Shot could never drive faster than that. Not a single trainee bot had that much power.

Just then Sparky heard an unwelcome noice, that was created by a speeding car. 'Ha can't be that...' Before Sparky even got a chance to finish that thought, Hot Shot already sped past him. There were only one hundred meters left until they reached the goal.

"TRANSFORM!" Hot Shot shouted when he crossed the goal line. He rolled around in the air and landed on his feet. From behind him, he heard another shout of 'transform' and he also heard a metallic noice, that is created when something metallic strikes against the ground. Hot Shot turned around to see Sparky looking weary and exhausted, while on his knees on the gound. The race had really worn out the black bot.

"I here now declare Hot Shot the winner!" ComCom shouted. Sparky could not say anything. He was too exhausted.

"It's strarting to be time for dinner", Hot Shot noted, like there had not even been a race. "I don't know about you two, but I'm hungry." There was no exhaustion in Hot Shot's voice. It was clear that the yellow bot was even more faster than he had shown the other two.

"Yeah, I could sure use some energon..." Sparky admitted. He had not noticed the strange lack of tiredness in Hot Shot.

"You're bottomless..." ComCom pointed out.

"I'm a growing transformer!" Hot Shot protested.

"You'll overload, if you keep eating like that."

"Let him be", Sparky muttered to ComCom. "Hot Shot is right. It time for dinner." The trio left back inside. Sparky and Hot Shot would probably turn off immediately after the dinner, that was what ComCom thought. But he was not completely wrong. The two racers barely got to their recharge beds after dinner, when they were already asleep.

1.

Hot Shot woke to the beeping sound of the alarm clock. It seemed like ComCom had setted it to wake them up. Hot Shot sat up on his bed and looked at the clock.

"Taiai 14,5 of the first round..." Good, he still had half a section of time to wake up properly.

"Good morning, Hot Shot!" ComCom greeted with his bright voice.

"Morning, ComCom..." Hot Shot answered and yawned.

"Still tired?" ComCom asked. Hot Shot gazed at ComCom's smiling face and shook his nead.

"I just wake up slowly", he admitted. ComCom only nodded in reply.

"What's...going on?" Sparky muttered between yawns.

"It's time to get up", ComCom replied and bounced out of his bed. "We have a long day ahead of us! And it starts with the double lesson in languages!" ComCom cheered while he streched out. Hot Shot remembered that he had mentioned something about easily breaking joints.

"I shouldn't have come to school..." Sparky growled and did not make even one move to get out of bed. Hot Shot sighed and stood up.

"But then we wouldn't have met. Would that be better then?" Sparky pondered on the yellow bot's words for a moment.

"You have a point there, Hot Shot", he admitted. "As usual." Sparky jumped off his bed and on to the floor.

"I'm hungry. Lets go have some breakfast." The thought of food was the one thing that made Hot Shot wake up fully.

"I could use some energon as well. Are you coming, ComCom?" Hot Shot asked when he was at the door.

"Only one more strech..." the blue bot muttered and spun his head around full 360 decrees. Hot Shot laughed at Sparky's look of disbelief and started walking down the hall like ComCom's spinning would have been completely normal. Soon he heard the other two bots voices from behind himself.

"You forgot this."

"Thanks", Hot Shot said and took his bag from ComCom. "I knew that I could trust you with it..."

Soon the trio arrived to the cafeteria that was this time only half-full.

"It's a lot easier to find places to sit when you arrive to the cafeteria on time..."

"For once you say something even slightly smart, Sparky."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all..."

"Admit it! You think that I'm stupid!"

"I didn't say that-"

"But you thought it!"

Hot Shot closed his voice receivers so that he would not have to listen to his friends' fight anymore. He took a tray from the pile and started gathering his breakfast on it. Not until the trio had sat down at a table, dared Hot Shot to turn on his hearing again.

"I think that Kaiori seems to be a very interesting language. What do you think, Hot Shot?" It was a good thing that Hot Shot had started listening when he had. Otherwise he would not have heard ComCom's question.

"I think that Klauran is fun to study. It's interesting, how only adding 'sha' in a sentence transforms it from an ordinary sentence in to a question and with 'shu' it becomes negative..."

"Uhh... **what** did you just say?" Sparky was simply put confused. "I don't understad a word of what you're talking about. I don't like languages at all. It would be alot better, if we just studied our own language and forgot the rest."

"You're not thinking logically, Sparky", ComCom pointed out. "Because of our knowledge of languages, we aren't in a war against our neighbouring planets."

"By the way, we have our first lessons of mechanics today", Hot Shot said suddenly. He had decided to change the subject before ComCom and Sparkywould be the ones in a war.

"That's true!" Sparky shouted. "I wonder if they'll teach us to make weapons?"

"Of course they won't" ComCom said. "It would be unethical and stupid. We are only thaught the basics."

"Like fixing computer problems", Hot Shot added. Sparky let out an unsatisfied grunt.

"That's stupid..." he muttered.

"There can be nothing done about it..."

"The weapon industries lessons are where we will learn about weapons. But that can only be chosen for the fourth school year."

"How do you know that all, Hot Shot?"

"There are few kids older than me in the orpanage. They told me." ComCom and Sparky grew silent. They still felt akward about talking about Hot Shot being an orphan. Hot Shot decided to act like he did not notice the behaviour of his friends.

"Are you going to finish that?" he asked and ponted at ComCom's energon 5 -drink. Quietly ComCom gave it to Hot Shot. Hot Shot drank the drink in one gulp and stood up from the table.

"We must not be late from languages. Come on now and lets go." Hot Shot was already going. ComCom and Sparky sprang after him.

2.

"Who remembers the sentences 'Sha ru kih ra', 'Ru kih ra' and 'Shu ru kih ra' from our last lesson?" the language teacher, professor Soundmix, asked. Hot Shot lifted his hand up and grinned widely when he noticed that he was the only one who knew the answer.

"Hot Shot." The teacher gave him a turn to speak.

"First of all, 'Sha ru kih ra' is a question, 'Do you love me', 'Ru kih ra' is an ordinary phraise 'You love me' and 'Shu ru kih ra' is a negative sentence, 'You don't love me'. Soundmix looked at Hot Shot, clearly suprised. 'I didn't expect anyone to be able to translate the sentences...' he thought in wonder. 'It's amazing, how a first-year student was able to remember both grammar and vocabulary...'

"Correct", the teacher said out loud with an expressionless voice. He would have to inform the higher levels of the boy's abilities later.

3.

"The teacher looked rather confused by your answer, Hot Shot", ComCom pointed out after class.

"Totally", Sparky added. "I think that you made a good impression."

"Hot Shot!" A girl's voice was heard in the hallway. The trio turned to look at a light pink transformer, who was running towards them.

"StarHeart", Sparky muttered. "What does she want with you?" Hot Shot was as confused as Sparky. StarHeart caught up with them quickly.

"Hot Shot...That was a really good answer...I mean...at the lesson..." StarHeart stuttered while playing with her golden metallic locks. StarHeart's friends, Dorona and Alarie were eyeing her from afar. Dorona was colored black and red and her silver optics were gazing round with amusement in them. Alarie was colored violet and magenta and her golden optics had a strange look in them, while she watched Hot Shot.

Hot Shot turned his gaze back to StarHeart's red optics, so that the girl could see that he was paying attention.

"Thanks", he muttered in reply to the earlier compliment.

"Your knowledge on languages is really amazing..." StarHeart's optics sparkled while she talked. She leaned just a bit closer to Hot Shot. The Hot Shot was starting to feel slightly threatened.

"In how many language **can** you actually say 'love'?" StarHeart said, letting her optics dim a bit. Their colour turned into dark pink.

"In almost ten languages", Hot Shot replied and stepped backwards, returning the distance to what it should have been.

"I bet you have no problems with your homework..." StarHeart's optics flickered, while she once again stepped closer. They had gotten alot of homework from languages, and Hot Shot really did not think too much about it.

"Maybe...a little..." Hot Shot admitted.

"Well...this is a bit embarrasing...you see...I have no time...I have to call my sick mother and all..." Hot Shot listened to StarHeart's blabbering and wondered what the girl wanted.

_'The girl is trying to charm you...'_ the voice in his head said. _'She wants nothing but to use you. She did that to Proxim, and put him to do her homework on repairs.'_ Hot Shot remembered hearing Sparky tell about it. Hot Shot thanked quietly in his mind that he knew nothing about dating or such. He pushed the light pink transformer away from himself.

"Do I look I like I work with only half of my components?" Hot Shot growled. "Find someone else to do your homework... Or even better: do them yourself, like you should be doing." That said Hot Shot marched further down the hall, ComCom and Sparky right behind himself.

"Who does he think he is?" StarHeart growled to herself. "No one has ever refused me like that... I'll show him..." The femme's eyes burned bloody red. Her precious ego had gotten a hard hit.

_**To be continued...**_

Author's Notes: You know what they say; Hell held no fury like a woman scorned.


	3. Double Trouble

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 3**

**Double Trouble**

"That was...amazing!" Sparky cheered when they were out of hearing distance of the girls. "I have never seen anyone hit StarHeart's ego **that** hard. I have known her even before school began and I have never seen anyone pull a stunt like that on her."

"I guess StarHeart hasn't dealed with an anti-social type before", Hot Shot said with a laugh.

"You must be social at some level. Otherwise we couldn't be friends."

"You leave out one fact, ComCom. I didn't have even one real friend before I met you guys", Hot Shot said. "I didn't care about making any friends because I didn't neet them."

"Do you need them now?" Hot Shot went silent for a moment, wondering about ComCom's question. Did he need friends?

_'No, you don't...'_ a voice inside of his head said._ 'You have never needed anyone, and you never will.'_ Hot Shot turned his gaze to ComCom. The blue bot was watching him, waiting for his answer.

"Who wouldn't need friends?" Hot Shot said with a wide grin.

_'You don't...'_

'Shut up!' When a bright smile appeared on ComCom's face, Hot Shot's grin turned into a smile aswell. Maybe he could try this 'needing stuff' out.

1.

Hot Shot could have been banging his head to the table and still feel better than he was at the moment. That was how much he hated repair lessons. On top of all, they had two lessons in a row. For two lessons he would have to listen Bolt Volt's tiring lecture and Proxim's filling comments.

'What a nightmare!' Hot Shot thought and hit his forehead onto the table. Proxim was startled by the clang and turned to look at the yellow bow.

"Is everything ok?" Proxim asked. Proxim's armor was mostly bright blue but it also had flashes of orange and his face was light blue. Hot Shot lifted his head so that he wall able to lock his optics with Proxim's bright red ones.

"I'm...fine..." was his reply. Proxim gazed once into his dark blue optics and turned back to the lecturing teacher. If looks could kill, Proxim would now be only a puddle of oil and melted chrome.

2.

"One of these lessons will kill me for sure..." Hot Shot muttered after the trio walked out of the class room.

"You would make a good sample for our try-out exercises", Sparky said and let out a laugh.

"I don't understand. What is it that you hate so much about repair lessons..?" ComCom said, confused.

"Everything", Hot Shot answered.

"The mechanics lesson should calm down your nerves..." Sparky said in a comforting tone and put his hand ontop of Hot Shot's shoulder for a moment. The top of Hot Shot's head reached Sparky to the nose. Sparky was one of the tallest students in their class and Hot Shot felt short while standing next to his friend.

The mechanics were taught by a grey female transformer called FogMist, who was clearly over three million years old. But still the old femme was full of energy and lectured about the basics of mechanics with great spirit.

Hot Shot had finally been able to get a seat next to one of his friends. ComCom, who was sitting next to him, stared at their teacher in silent awe. Hot Shot thought that FogMist made their lesson alot more interesting. On her lessons Hot Shot was not almost in sleep mode.

In the between of mechanics lessons was lunch hour and Hot Shot, as usual, loaded his tray with a great amount of different energon products. He was so hungry he could barely walk straight. ComCom mentioned something about an overload caused by too much energy, but Hot Shot did not bother to listen.

After mechanics they had a twin lesson in math. Calculate was as boring as he had been on the earlier lessons and Hot Shot only typed the codes they were supposed to learn and then leaned back in his chair.

Clawer was in deep sleep and when Calculate had tried to wake him up five times without success he had given up. Hot Shot was droppind pieces of components that he had found on his desk over Clawer and silently sniggered to himself while doing so.

After math there were two free lessons before dinner, so the trio spent it by doing their homework in the library. They had gotten homework only from languages and math. Hot Shot had done his language exercises easily and was now forcing himself to calculate the given math problems. ComCom was whistling happily while doing his calculations and Sparky looked like he was ready to toss his books and his laptop out of the library's window.

"Why did I even attend to school?" Sparky growled. "There are bots that haven't once opened a school book. I bet decepticons don't have to..."

"SHUT UP!" Hot Shot flinched at ComCom's shreak. "Don't talk about the 'cons in such a manner!" ComCom tossed his books onto the floor with a loud noice while standing up. "Those huligans are evil and unciviliced. That's why we're in a war with them!"

"We're not in war-stasis now..." Sparky muttered.

"It doesn't matter!" ComCom roared. "Decepticons are our natural enemies, war or no war!"

Hot Shot shifted his gaze to peek behind the shelves. The library bot, a fully light beige femme, was headed towards them. Hot Shot stood up and slammed his hand on ComCom's mouth. The blue bot gazed at him for a moment, looking puzzled, but then he also heard the mettalic steps. All three turned around to look at the library bot at the same time.

"This is a library..." the bot said.

"We apologise, miss DataModule..." ComCom muttered. The blue bot could not handle one second under the dark green optics of DataModule.

"It won't happen again, miss..." Hot Shot said.

_'Stupid ComCom...'_

'SHUT UP!' Hot Shot wasn't affected by the stare. He had seen that look many times on the faces of the bots in the orphanage. Instead of being embarrased he put the most innocent smile he could fake on his face. It worked perfectly on the bots in the orphanage.

"Fine then", DataModule said. "But this is your first and final warning. One more stunt like that, and you're out of here." That said the femme left and walked back behind her desk.

'Well what do you know!' Hot Shot thought. 'It even works on library bots...'

Soon it was time for dinner. The trio was walking towards the cafeteria, chatting away happily, when three boy bots blocked their way.

"Umm...could you please...move out of the way?" ComCom muttered quietly.

"Did you say something, shrimp?" barked a dark red bot, whose armor was decorated with black and white. ComCom flinched clearly when looking into the bot's green optics.

"Nothing...nothing at all", ComCom whispered so quietly, that it was not even heard.

Hot Shot stepped forward and immediately Sparky followed suit. The red bot watched them for a moment, confused.

"And just who do you think you are?" Hot Shot spat.

"My name is SteelGlide", the bot answered. "And what's yours?"

"The name is Hot Shot, and I'm not going to let anyone..." Hot Shot was interrupted by a hard push on his shoulder. The pusher was one of the silent two bots. This one was also dark red, but his armor was decorated with dark blue. From the bot's back rose a pair of dark blue wings, so his alternative mode had to be some kind of a flyer. A cocky look could be seen in his bright orange optics. It was typical for flying transformers.

Hot Shot lifted up his hand, to give the wing boy a good beating, when the last one of the bots stepped towards him. This bot was mostly earth green, but his armor had black sections on it. His optics were lime green.

"These are my friends, SpiralBeam and Speedpainer", SteelGlide said from behind the two.

"They don't look all that impressive..." Hot Shot growled. SpiralBeam's wings flickered with hidden rage. Hot Shot grinned at the flyer's reaction.

"You must think that you're funny or something, huh?" SteelGlide said. Hot Shot let out a laugh.

"As a matter of fact, yes." The look on SteelGlide's face made Hot Shot almost burst into fits of laughter.

"And I bet you must think that you're something big?" Hot Shot continued.

"Atleast bigger than you", SteelGlide growled and grinned, thinking that he had the upper hand.

"The bigger the bot, the harder the fall", Hot Shot said, using one of the oldest sayings transformers knew. Before he could react, he felt an intense pain in his smell sensors. SteelGlide had gotten enough and hit the yellow bot on the nose with his fist. Hot Shot's head snapped back from the power of the impact and he heard ComCom shreak in horror behind him.

"I bet you don't think you're so cool any more?" SteelGlide said with a wide grin. His green optics flickered with an evil glare.

"Think what you want..." Hot Shot wiped his nose with his hand. He brought the hand to his optic level. Nothing. SteelGlide's hit had not injured him. Hot Shot grinned widely.

Hot Shot's counter attack caught SteelGlide completely suprised. Hot Shot's fist rose with such speed and it collided with his face with such strenght, that he would have been mute with dispelief if he had not shrieked in pain. SteelGlide lost his balance and fell on his rear on the hallway floor.

Hot Shot looked at his work, decided that he was pleased with it, and grabbed Sparky's shoulder with his left hand. He pushed the black bot infront of him down the hall. With his right hand he grabbed ComCom's arm and pulled him after himself. SpiralBeam and Speedpainer were left staring after them in awe while SteelGlide rubbed his sore chin, fuming silently to himself.

3.

"Wow, Hot Shot! You really now how to suprise me again and again!" Sparky cheered at the table.

"I'm only glad that none of the teachers saw that", ComCom said. "Otherwise we would be in big trouble now..."

"Nothing to worry about, ComCom", Sparky said. "Life couldn't be better at the moment."

Hot Shot listened to his friends' chat and smiled himself. Could life really go so well? He had gotten his two first real friends. He posessed such speed and strenght that he could protect those friends easily. He had struk down the 'cool guy' of his class... Hot Shot let out a laugh. Life really was going well!

4.

Again Hot Shot woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. Automatically his gaze shifted to the clock.

"Kolai, 14,5 of first round..." Good, the clock had rung at the correct time. Hot Shot forced himself to sit up on his bed and saw ComCom stand up on the floor in the corner of his eye.

"Good morning...Com...Com..." Hot Shot said between wide yawns.

"Good morning, Hot Shot!" ComCom cheered. "Today I'm feeling really rested! Want to take part in my morning streches?"

"No thanks", Hot Shot shook his head. "Sparky thinks I'm weird enough already... Thanks anyway."

"Your loss", ComCom said while shuddering and started off his every-morning routine.

"There's no way I'm ever going to get used to that", Sparky muttered while watching ComCom turning and twisting.

"No one has told you to get used to it", Hot Shot pointed out. "Better get up. Breakfast starts soon."

"Oh yeah, you never miss a meal, right?" Sparky almost fell of the bed while laughing.

"Hardy har har, very funny..." Hot Shot grunted.

"But you have to admit, your apetite knows no equal!"

"I'm a growing boy!"

"Hey, are we going or what?" ComCom shouted out.

"Where? To eat?" Hot Shot got interested.

"You see?"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

5.

Hot Shot ran with great speed down the corridor. He was in such hurry to get to the cafeteria, that he did not notice the foot that was pushed infront of him. Hot Shot tripped and fell flat on his face. Teasing giggles followed his suprised grunt.

"You're so clumsy, Hot Shot!" StarHeart giggled.

"A real clown!" Dorona cheered and let a loud giggle of her own. Hot Shot squeezed his hands into tight fists.

_'Those witches...'_

"Let me help you up..." Hot Shot grabbed the offered hand and it was already too late to realize that it was StarHeart's. StarHeart let go of him while he was still halfway up, dropping him on the floor again.

"Oh! Pardon me!" StarHeart faked a gasp. "You were just so heavy..."

"That's a nice way of saying that you're fat", Dorona giggled. The laugh of the students gathered at the hallway rang in Hot Shot's ears.

_'Blow them up!'_ a voice commanded. _'You know you can do it!'_ Hot Shot shook his head.

'I can't do such a thing. It's not right, even if I could...'

_'It doesn't matter! They're acting disrespectful towards you. Just do it!'_ 'NO!'

"That was really mean, StarHeart", a voice growled. Hot Shot lifted his gaze up to see Sparky's twin sister, Sparkly.

"Utterly outrageous, I might add", Lunar added with her intelligent optics narrowed.

"Completely despicable!" Forestra growled. All three girls were standing in line on Hot Shot's right side and glared at StarHeart and Dorona with malice. Alarie looked shy, while shifting her weight from one foot to another. She did not know which side she was on.

"If I were you, Sparkly, I would get myself a life", StarHeart muttered. "Such scum like yourself don't belong here." Sparkly's orange optics gleamed. They were completely identical with those of Sparky.

"And you can take you advanced intelligence someplace else, Lunar!" Dorona added. Lunar's yellow optics did not even flash.

"Such an arrogant little miss smarty-processor has no right to judge us." Lunar's black form backed down, looking less confident than before.

"I'm not arrogant, am I..?" she muttered so quietly, that no one heard.

"And Forestra can go hug those organic lifeforms she likes so much", StarHeart growled. Forestra's red optics gleamed dangerously. Her dark green shell shook slightly.

Hot Shot had managed to lift himself from the floor.

"Look what we have here! A brave hero, helped by girls!" SteelGlide laughed.

'Great... Just great...'' Hot Shot thought. 'When did **he** get here?'

"I doubt anyone would even **want** to help **you**", Hot Shot muttered, trying to save the little dignity he had left. Hot Shot heard some faint sniggers from the mass of students. It seemed like he was quickly gaining the crowd's support.

SteelGlide roared and rushed towards Hot Shot. Hot Shot leaned backwards and managed to dodge the swirling fist. Hot Shot also brought his fist up for a strike. He managed to hit SteelGlides chest plate. SteelGlide lost his balance and Hot Shot decided to use this for his advantage. He kicked a low kick to SteelGlide's legs and managed to make the dark red bot fall. As soon as SteelGlide hit the floor, Speedpainer and SpiralBeam rushed in to attack Hot Shot.

Hot Shot did not know much about the flyer transformers' abilities in ground combat, but he noticed that SpiralBeam lacked pretty much in that. Hot Shot got one well-aimed strike to SpiralBeam's lower back, which sent the flyer straight into the way of Speedpainer's strike. The bigger bot hit accidently his comrade down.

Speedpainer moved slowly towards Hot Shot. Speedpainer was almost a head taller than Sparky, who made Hot Shot feel short. To add to the effect Speedpainer was also more heavily built and he had a lot of armor. How in the world could Hot Shot stand a chance against someone so much bigger and stronger?

_'He might be bigger, but there's no way he's stonger than you'_, a familiar voice said. Hot Shot nodded. 'Lets hope that this one time you're right...'

Hot Shot rushed forward, keeping himself low, and easily dodged Speedpainer's clumsy swung of fist. Soon Hot Shot was close enough to land a strike. He struk his right fist into Speedpainer's unprotected stomach with all his might. The bigger transformer swung his arms weakly and fell on the floor.

Only when the cheers of the students watching reached Hot Shot's ears, he realized that he had won. He also realized that his victory had earned him much more respect in the eyes of the other students.

Hot Shot felt a finger tap on his shoulder. He turned his gaze to Sparky.

"That was an amazing show, Hot Shot. Once again, you made me completely speechless." Hot Shot grinned widely.

"Hey, that's just who I am. Amazing." ComCom had also come to Hot Shot.

"I really hope you're not planning to do that again", he said. "You can get into serious trouble."

"I'll try to avoid it..." Hot Shot said. "By the way..." Hot Shot just remembered something **very** important he had forgotten. He turned to face both of his friends. "Shall we go eat now?"

6.

At the table Hot Shot listened to ComCom's long lecture.

"We're not even in the end of our first week and you've been in a fight two times already. TWO TIMES for Primus' sake!"

"Calm down, ComCom", Sparky said. "Hot Shot was only defending himself. They can't tell anyone without getting into trouble themselves."

"It doesn't matter! It's all about habit! If Hot Shot continues like this, it **will** become a habit. What will happen then, when he's not as lucky? Hot Shot will be expelled from school!"

"There's nothing to worry about, ComCom. Hot Shot is smart enough to behave. Aren't you?" Sparky elboved Hot Shot lightly.

"I promise to be good, ComCom", Hot Shot said. "Don't worry about me."

"And besides..." Sparky continued. "...I'm sure that two beatings was enough to teach SteelGlide some manners. He won't be causing any trouble to us anytime soon."

After the free hour the trio had a double lesson in repairs.

"I don't think I can handle many lessons sitting next to Proxim anymore..." Hot Shot sighed.

"I have an idea!" Sparky shouted out.

"REALLY? Did it hurt?" ComCom asked, acting suprised.

"The only one hurting here is going to be **you**..." Sparky growled.

"Well, what is that idea of yours?" Hot Shot asked.

"I know how you can survive the lessons next to Proxim!"

"I'm desperate enough to try anything", Hot Shot said.

"Ok, ready..?" Sparky kept a dramatic pause. "You can handle it, if you don't think about it!"

"Come again?" Hot Shot was confused.

"Don't listen to him. Just turn off your audio receivers."

"But then he won't hear anything the teacher says, idiot!" ComCom growled.

"Well, he can always tell Proxim to stop..."

Hot Shot sighed.

"What if he's offended?"

"Well, at least the little there is left of your sanity is saved..."

Hot Shot stared at Sparky for a moment, completely in disbelief and sighed again.

"What if I just got used to it...?"

"I vote for that."

7.

"Hot Shot..." Proxim whispered at the lesson. Bolt Volt had given them some exercises to ponder on. On this lesson Proxim had not started his usual blabbering.

"Hmmh..?" was Hot Shot's reply as he turned his attention to Proxim's dark red eyes.

"You seem to have some problems..." Proxim pointed out. Hot Shot gazed at his paper. He had managed to get a decent answer to a couple of questions but most of the questions were unaswered. Proxim, on the other hand, looked just about ready.

"I haven't captured the main point in this yet..." Hot Shot muttered, embarrased. Proxim smiled at him gently.

"Do you want some help?" Hot Shot looked back at Proxim and gave him a shy smile.

"If by any chance you'd be willing to help..." Proxim's smile turned to a grin.

"Of course. It's always a pleasure to be able to assist."

8.

"Man, I HATED that lesson!" Sparky roared, once they were outside the class. "I couldn't understand a thing!"

"Well, I admit that it was a little bit difficult for me too..." ComCom admitted.

"Aren't you one to speak! You completed that paper ages before I did." Sparky turned his attention to Hot Shot.

"Where's you anti-repair-fit?" the black transformer asked.

"I think that this lesson was very interesting", Hot Shot said suddenly.

"Say WHAT?" To say Sparky was suprised would have been the understatement of the millenia. "But you **hate** repair classes!"

"This time I really got the hang of things. A little guidance's never hurt anyone..."

ComCom and Sparky stopped to stare at Hot Shot. Hot Shot did not notice and kept on walking down the corridor.

"By the way, did you know that aside of being a technician Proxim is interested in weapon developement?" Hot Shot asked while walking on. "We had quite an interesting discussion on the matter." ComCom and Sparky could not do anything but stare after Hot Shot.

_**To be continued...**_

Author's Notes: This time I actually have something important to say: There isn't much more happening on the first year, so in the next part will be the last school day of the first year. So, in the next part we will see, if our heroes make it out of the first class.


	4. School's Over

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 4**

**School's Over**

Once again Hot Shot woke to the sound of the alarm clock. He turned his gaze to the clock.

"Xixai, 12 of the first round..." Hot Shot pondered about the numbers for a moment. "But now's vacation! Why is the clock ringing?" Hot Shot fell back on his bed.

"But Hot Shot! It's the last day of school. We have to be in time for the ceremony!" ComCom shouted out. Hot Shot was up immediately.

"What ceremony?" he asked.

"We are transferred to the next level. Surely you remember?" Sparky laughed and rubbed his chest plate with a rag.

"Now that you mention it..." Hot Shot muttered while laying back down. He was so tired, that he would gladly stay as a first grader if it meant more sleep. This he also told ComCom.

"No way!" ComCom roared. "You're coming and that's final! End of discussion!"

"Calm down, ComCom..." Sparky tried to calm his friend down. "It's not like you're not his mother or anything."

"No, but he sure needs one", ComCom growled and turned to the window. Durin the school year ComCom and Sparky had learned to live with the fact that Hot Shot was an orphan. For this, Hot Shot was greatly thankful.

"Fine, fine, fine", Hot Shot muttered finally. "I'm awake." He stood up from his bed and streched his arms. It was a habit he had picked up from ComCom. ComCom was again facing him, his face gleaming with exitement.

"This is so exiting!" ComCom shouted out. "After we get our report cards we get to return home for the warm season!"

"It's not that much fun at home..." Hot Shot growled.

"Don't be like that Hot Shot! I'm sure you can find something positive about this vacation!" Sparky tried. Hot Shot shook his head.

"We will make your vacation positive!" ComCom shouted.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Hot Shot muttered.

"We'll come to visit you!"

"Exactly!" Sparky joined the shorter bot. Hot Shot's lips turned to a small smile.

"In that case I can hardly wait..."

1.

"WhatdidyougetWhatdidyouget?" ComCom was so exited that his audio processors almost over heated. The trio was sitting at the yard under one big kaisak tree.

"Let's see..." Sparky muttered while going through his paper. "Math: 404, history: 303, mechanics: 404, repairs: 404, traffic: 505 and language: 303."

"Not bad at all!" ComCom cheered. "You didn't fail a single one!"

"What did you get, ComCom?" Hot Shot asked.

"I thought you would never ask!" ComCom cheered and started going through his paper. "Math: 404, history: 404, mechanics: 606, repairs: 505, traffic: 404 and language: 404!" Sparky was staring at ComCom, clearly impressed.

"Well...you didn't fail..." he finally managed to say.

"What about you, Hot Shot?" There was a hopeful look on Sparky's face. Maybe he did not have the worst grades of the group. Hot Shot lifted up his paper so the others could read it. ComCom grabbed it, very exited.

"Math: 404, history: 303, mechanics: 404, repairs: 303, traffic: 606 and languages: 606."

"WHAT?" Sparky was clearly confused. "Hot Shot got the highest grade from both languages **and** traffic?" Hot Shot grabbed his paper back quickly and tugged it into his bag. He felt the oil starting to flow more quickly in his face. He felt embarrased, very embarrased.

"There's no reason to be ashamed of good grades, Hot Shot!" ComCom said with a happy grin. "You're supposed to be happy about them! They help us later on with our-OUCH!" ComCom was interrupted by Sparky's elbow which had struck him to the side.

"A teacher is headed towards us", Sparky said.

"Ok, which one of you was it this time?" ComCom was glaring at Hot Shot.

"It wasn't me!" Hot Shot defended.

"I haven't fought during this week either!" Sparky insisted. A shadow loomed over the trio. They all lifted their gazes at the same time.

"Hot Shot, can I speak with you for a moment?" Smokescreen asked with a gentle smile. Hot Shot swallowed and nodded. You cold never guess anything from Smokescreen's smile. It could mean both good and bad. Hot Shot walked with his teacher to a short distance away from his friends. Just out of their hearing range to be exact.

"There is nothing to worry about Hot Shot", Smokescreen started. "As much as I know you haven't done anything wrong."

"Then why did you want to talk to me?" Hot Shot asked.

"I want to discuss your grades", Smokescreen told him. "Your language grades to be exact."

"What about them?" Hot Shot asked.

"They're the best ones one can get", Smokescreen said simply. "I'm sure you have noticed that yourself." Hot Shot nodded in reply.

"According to professor Soundmix you're on a much higher level when compaired to your classmates. That's why I thought that you might be interested in studies of a higher level. You can be arranged to study with the fourth year students for the next year."

"The fourth?" Hot Shot yelped.

"Soundmix thought that your level is two levels higher than that of your other classmates. But if you think it's too much for you to handle, we can put you on a same group with third years. So, what do you say?"

Hot Shot looked at his teacher, out of words. His mouth turned into a thin line and he nodded.

"I would be happy to accept your offer", he said. Smokescreen smiled.

"That's good to hear." He turned to walk back to the school building. "Have a happy vacation!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Thank you! And the same for you too!" Hot Shot cheered after him.

As soon as Smokescreen was gone, ComCom and Sparky rushed to Hot Shot.

"What did he say?" ComCom asked.

"He said my abilities in languages are over the average level", Hot Shot replied.

"Even I knew that one!" Sparky muttered.

"He said that it was that of a fourth grader", Hot Shot continued.

"What?" Sparky was once again confused.

"I will be transferred to the fourth group for the next year", Hot Shot told them. "Professor Soundmix wants to improve my language skills."

"Or rather, he wants to get rid of you..." Sparky muttered and let out a short snicker. ComCom and Hot Shot soon joined in.

ComCom was the first to stop. He was looking at something behind Hot Shot. Hot Shot noticed and turned his head. A tall femme had appeared on the school yard with a small transformer child.

Hot Shot heard Sparky's laugh fading away and knew that he had also noticed the newcomers.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. "It's just the mother of one of the students..." Hot Shot did not know if Sparky was going to say something more, for ComCom suddenly shouted out with a loud voice: "MOM! Over here!" ComCom was waving his arms and the femme started to head towards them.

"Mom, I want you to meet my new friends", ComCom started as soon as his mother came to them.

"My name is Hot Shot", Hot Shot said and gave a deep bow.

"I'm Sparky." Sparky gave a smaller bow.

"It's nice to meet you, Hot Shot and Sparky", the femme said. "I'm HowerJet. And this over here is..." ComCom's mother pushed a scared-looking child transformer infront of them. "...Swipes. ComCom, I need to talk with your teacher. Take care sweeties." HowerJet patted her older son on the head and was immediately gone.

Hot Shot kneeled lower to be able to eye Swipes more closely. He gazed into the small bots light blue optics and gave him an encouraging smile. A shy smile appeared on Swipes' face in reply.

"He's cute", Hot Shot said and put his hand ontop of the smaller trasformer's head. He did not usually learn to like a transformer so quickly, besides ComCom of course. Hot Shot recognized Swipes' lost gaze as the same one he had seen on ComCom's face when he had stopped him from falling onto the auditorium floor on the first school day.

"He looks alot like you", Hot Shot pointed out while standing up.

"Yep!" Sparky laughed. "ComCom is also a shorty!" Sparky cackled at his own joke.

"I'm not short!" ComCom defended. "You're just too tall!" Hot Shot smiled at the fight his friends were having and noticed Spiwes watching him with his optics shimmering.

"Hmm?"

"Swipes likes you", ComCom said. "He has an idol for every day of the year."

"I'm not good for an idol", Hot Shot rushed to assure.

"Swipes doesn't know how to talk yet but he is pretty stubborn. We might have to tolerate him even during the vacation." Hot Shot laughed at ComCom's apologetic tone.

"There's always room for one more", He said and caressed Swipes' head armor. Swipes let out an exited beep.

"What was that?" Sparky asked.

"Swipes doesn't know how to talk yet. That skill will be added in his next up-grade", ComCom explained.

"How many up-grades does he have?" Hot Shot asked.

"Three", ComCom replied. "He's really young..." Hot Shot muttered quietly.

"Did you say something, Hot Shot?" ComCom asked. Hot Shot shook his head.

"It was nothing..." Hot Shot gazed into Swipes' light blue optics again and smiled once again.

'I don't even remember being so young...'

2.

"Bye then, ComCom!" Sparky and Hot Shot shouted at the same time.

"Bye bye, Swipes!" Hot Shot shouted in addition when the duo disappeared around the corner with their mother.

"We'll come and visit you, Hot Shot", Sparky said. "You can count on that."

"Thanks, Sparky", Hot Shot said. "I'll appreciate it."

"Don't be like that!" Sparky shouted. "There's no reason to get so serious! That's what friends are for!" Hot Shot was just about to answer Sparky when they were interrupted by the voice of Sparky's twin sister, Sparkly.

"Hey, bro'!" Sparkly shouted from the school gate. "We're in a hurry, remember?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" " Sparky shouted back. "See ya around, 'Shot. And have a good holiday!" Hot Shot nodded.

"And the same goes for you too," he said and Sparky left. Hot Shot was left standing alone on the school yard. Or, at least, that was what he thought.

"Hot Shot?" a voice asked shyly. Hot Shot turned around and found himself looking into a pair of golden optics. Hot Shot shifted his gaze and recognized the transformer from its purple and magenta color.

"Hi, Alarie", Hot Shot said to the femme. Alarie looked really shy. Well, to be exact, Alarie **always** looked shy. Hot Shot had often seen the girl sitting in the furthest corner of the class room and staying completely silent, until a teacher asked her something. When answering a question, Alarie's voice always shook because of her uncertainty.

"Did you have something to say?" Hot Shot asked the girl. Alarie's face started turning red.

"Not really", the girl muttered quietly. "I was just wondering if you were in a hurry?"

"No, I'm not in a hurry to anywhere", Hot Shot answered. "I don't have any parents that could grow worried of me..."

"I'm so sorry!" Alarie shouted out. "I completely forgot! I shouldn't have forgotten..." The girl lowered her head in apology.

"Don't be like that!" Hot Shot was caught off-guard. "I'm used to it. You have no reason to apology."

Shyly Alarie managed to lift her gaze.

"So you're not in a hurry then?" she asked. Hot Shot shook his head. "I was meant to wait for my parents here on the school yard but it's not fun to wait all alone. Would it be alot of trouble...I mean...would you like to wait with me?" Hot Shot nodded and gave the girl a wide grin.

"Sure, why not?" Alarie's face turned into an alarming shade of red.

"That's...really nice of you..."

"It's no big deal at all", Hot Shot laughed.

"To me it is..." Alarie said quietly, "By the way, you're really strong."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, back in the beginning of the year you beat the whole SteelGlide's gang. You were really impressive. Even StarHeart thinks that way, she just doesn't want to admit it." Alarie grew red again and covered her mouth with her hands. "Ayaa! I shouldn't have said that!" Hot Shot waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll propably forget that within a week. My memory is a bit shaky. But what about you? How was you school year?" Hot Shot saw a strange look on Alarie's face that he was not able to reconise.

"Good I guess..." Alarie said quietly. "I got 606 from math, 606 from history, 303 from mechanics, 202 from repairs, 606 from traffic and 404 from language." Hot Shot pondered the numbers for a moment.

"So your grade average is 403? That's really good!" Alarie turned red again.

"Do you really think so?" Hot Shot nodded.

"Absolutely!"

"So...what did you get?" Alarie asked. Hot Shot took out his own paper.

"Math: 404, history: 303, mechanics: 404, repairs: 303, traffic: 606 and language: 606. My grade average is 402."

"Wow!" Alarie cheered. "It's almost the same as mine!" The girl was really exited.

"I have you thought about the choised for the fourth year?" she asked. Hot Shot shook his head.

"Not really. I don't yet know all the choises I have."

"Well, I heard that there wasn't enough grades to grade your skills in languages, so I would go for further studies of language..."

"I kind of have those already", Hot Shot rushed to say.

"Really?"

"Yep, professor Soundmix put me into the fourth graders' group for the next year."

"Cool!" Alarie cheered.

"I think so too", Hot Shot admitted.

Just then a loud shout echoed through the yard. "ALARIE!" Alarie's and Hot Shot's gazes turned to a big transformer that had appeared the the school gates.

"That's my father", Alarie told Hot Shot. "Thanks for waiting with me."

"It was nothing. See on the next school year", Hot Shot said. Alarie blushed brightly and nodded then.

"Yeah...I'll see you then!" That said Alarie rushed to her father and they left together. Hot Shot waited for a short moment before he also left. He wasn't in a hurry. He would get home even by walking.

3.

Soon Hot Shot made the last turn and arrived infront of a big building. Hot Shot walked in through the gates and hardly noticed the sign next to the gate. He had seen it so many times. He knew what it said on the sign. It read: "Omnyblast home". A transformer called Omnyblast had started the Omnyblast home ten million years ago.

Hot Shot walked through the yard. Omnyblast home had one of the few gardens on Cybertron and there were big kaisak trees on each sides of the sidewalk. Hot Shot walked to the large door in the end on the sidewalk and gave it a firm knock. He did not have to wait for long, for the door was soon opened by a young, bright red femme. The gaze of her golden optics turned on Hot Shot immediately.

"Hi, Hot Shot. I haven't seen you in a while. How was your school year?"

"It was fine, miss Loir. Do you want to see my report card?"

"Of course, Hot Shot. But first come in. Let's have look at it while drinking a glass of energon."

Loir let Hot Shot in and closed the door after him. She took Hot Shot to the kitchen and took some energon from the cupboard while Hot Shot sat down and duck his report card out of his bag.

"Omara has propably already got the copy of you report card", Loir pointed out while sitting down.

"I didn't know that there was one sent", Hot Shot said.

"Well, we have quite a lot of kids going to school here. It would be difficult to run after everyone for their report cards so the school council send them here by e-mail." Hot Shot nodded.

"It really is a lot more convenient."

Loir took a gulp of her energon drink.

"Let's have a look on that report card, shall we?" Hot Shot gave his paper over the table to Loir. Loir quickly went through the numbers and smiled gently at Hot Shot.

"This is really good!" she said. Hot Shot felt himself blush.

"I was transferred to another language group", he said.

"Why?" Loir asked.

"The teacher doesn't have enough grades. According to him my skills are way over the average level so on the next year I'll be starting in the fourth year group." Loir clapped her hands together in awe.

"Why, that's just wonderful news!" Hot Shot felt his face growing even warmer. Loir had always been very nice to him. The headmistress Omara did not have time for the children and Elya just complained and nagged. Hot Shot felt that Loir really cared. And for that he was very grateful of the femme.

_One week later..._

Hot Shot woke when the sun's first rays came through the window. The Omnyblast home lay almost outside of the city so there were not many other buildings close to it. Because of that the sunlight was not blocked out.

Hot Shot sat up on his bed and looked out the window. Only one week had gone since the vacation had started and already he missed school. 'Atleast I had something to do there...' he thought to himself. Hot Shot stood up and gazed around the room. He shared it with three other children and all of them were still fast asleep. The beds were put in a row. Hot Shot's bed was closest to the window. Next to Hot Shot's bed was J.A.'s bed. J.A. was a young girl transformer, three up-grades younger than Hot Shot. J.A.'s frame was dark pink and her light pink eyes were now turned off. J.A. was small in size, even for one of her age. Still the girl had enough energy to spend every day on full power. That meant that she laughed and screamed all day long.

Next to J.A.'s bed was Talon's bed. Talon had some kind of a problem with his ego. He thought that he was better than the others just because he was the oldest one. Hot Shot's optics narrowed when he eyed Talon's green form. _'Now would be the perfect time to show that big-headed jerk.'_ Hot Shot shook his head. 'Bad idea. My arm was numb for a week after the last one...' Hot Shot believed that he would never forget the raging look in Talon's bright green optics when he had found out that Hot Shot had done something to his audio unit. Talon's voice had been even higher than J.A.'s when she was in the groove. Talon was four up-grades older than Hot Shot. That meant that Talon would start his last school year next year.

The last bed belonged to Growlew. Growlew was the same age as Hot Shot and seemed to know everything about everything. His frame was pitch black. Growlew's purple optics had a mature look in them and it reminded Hot Shot of the headmistress Omar. The look in headmistress pink optics was so sharp and bright that even Talon grew uncertain when facing it.

Hot Shot turned away from his sleeping comrades and walked out of the room. The floor was covered with J.A.'s toys. J.A. never seemed to remember to clean after herself. It was a duty that either Hot Shot or Growlew had to take. Talon felt that he was far too important to clean someone else's mess.

Hot Shot stepped to the dark hallway. It was quiet and it calmed Hot Shot's nerves. But still, no matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to get rid of the feeling of someone's presence that always haunted him when he was alone or surrounded by people.

Hot Shot walked down the stairs a bit shakily, for they were a bit too high for him. He had gotten his seventh up-grade on that week and was now at least a head taller than before. Still the stairs that had been designed for a full-sized transformer were too steep for him. Of course there was a smaller staircase for the smaller transformers built next to the bigger one but Hot Shot did not want to use it.

Soon Hot Shot managed to get to the lower floor. The hallway he came to was dark, so Hot Shot assumed that everyone was still asleep. Hot Shot walked quietly across the hall to a big dining room. He passed the empty table and the empty chairs as quietly as he could. Hot Shot walked to a small kitchen behind the dining room. It was the same kitchen miss Loir had taken him to a week ago. Hot Shot walked to the cold container and opened it.

The container was full of different kinds of energon drinks. There were drinks of numbers five and four. Any strong drinks were not allowed into a house full of children. Hot Shot took a bottle containin number five energon and closed the door. Then he reached out for the dry energon shelf above the cold container. That was where the energon chunks were kept. Hot Shot grabbed a piece of orange energon from the cabin and slammed the door shut.

Hot Shot walked through the kitcken to the dining room. He sat on the end of the table that facing kitchen and put his breakfast ontop of the table. Hot Shot ran his finger across the surface of the orange energon. He felt the energy inside the chunk. Hot Shot grabbed the solid energon and brought it to his lips. When he bit a small piece off the chunk, he was already expecting the small shock that followed. He had not eaten since last morning so it was not a suprise that he reacted so strongly to the energy given by the energon.

Hot Shot chewed the piece of energon carefully, letting the energy flow slowly inside his mouth. He had once done the mistake of eating too fast after a long break from eating and found himself on the floor, unconcious. Hot Shot had chosen the orange energon for its mild taste. If he had taken energon with a stronger taste, his taste receivers could have overheated.

Finally Hot Shot managed to swallow the first piece. He bit a new piece off the chunk. This time he bit a bigger piece off and the shock was not as strong as it had been before. It would take awhile for Hot Shot to finish his breackfast.

_**To be continued...**_


	5. River of Terrors

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 5**

**River of Terrors**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Hot Shot managed to drink the last drops from his energon drink when J.A. rushed to the dining room. "Morning, Hot Shot!" the girl cheered happily. "Morning, J.A.", Hot Shot aswered. "You aren't usually up this early in the morning..." "How could I possibly sleep when I'll get my fourth up-grade today?" J.A. giggled. "My fourth up-grade!" "Indeed..." Hot Shot replied. "Then I can't go calling you a shrimp anymore...How about 'the Queen of Shrimps'?" "Hardy harhar, very funny..." "I was being serious." "HOT SHOT!" "Ok, ok. I didn't mean it. Stop yelling. You'll wake up the whole house..." 'And people wonder why I don't like company...' Hot Shot thought. He still managed to put a bright smile on his face when he saw J.A. blush.

Hot Shot always woke up earlier than the others to be able to be the first morning hours on his own. He always went asleep before others in order to get enough sleep to be able to wake up so early.

J.A. was about to say something when the door bell rang. Hot Shot rose up from the table and walked across the dining room to the door. J.A. followed right behind him. Hot Shot's eyes went to the clock when he walked past it. The clock read Tai 1.18. 'Taiai, eighteen parts of the first round... Did it really take me that much time to eat breackfast?' Hot Shot shook his head. Skipping meals hadn't been one of his brightest ideas.

Hot Shot soon came to the door and he pushed it open. The sunlight blinded him for a moment untill his optics got used to the added amount of light. Soon Hot Shot could identify who was on on the door.

"ComCom? Sparky?" Hot Shot mouted the names of his friends, confused. What were they doing here? "Hi Hot Shot!" Sparky greeted him. "Do you remember our promise to brighten up your holiday?" ComCom asked. "Some of it..." Hot Shot muttered. "Well, here we are, so lets go!" Sparky was impatient, as always. "Of course, as soon as you tell me where", Hot Shot said. "To the east city", a new voice replied. Hot Shot had never heard it before. Hot Shot turned his gaze at the smaller robot standing beside his friends. There was no mistaking of the light blue eyes.

"Swipes?" The smaller bot gave a nod. "He insisted on coming along", ComCom said in an apologetic tone. "It's ok", Hot Shot assured. "The more the merrier."

Hot Shot turned back inside. "J.A. could you tell the sisters that I went outside with my friends?" he asked the girl bot. J.A. nodded. "Of course, Hot Shot." "Also tell them, that I might be late for supper." That said Hot Shot was out the door.

1.

"So where are we going exactly?" Hot Shot asked when they had walked some time. "To this very cool place", Sparky replied. "To the relaxsation site of the east city", ComCom filled in. "What are we going to do there?" Hot Shot asked. "We want to show you something. But it's a suprise so no more questions." There was a playful tone in Sparky's voice. "Fine then", Hot Shot gave in. "I guess I'll see it then..."

"Just a little farther!" Sparky cheered when the four transformers got through the bushes. "That's exactly what you said a while ago", Swipes whined. "Why should I believe you now?" "Because we're already at the river!" Sparky answered. And indeed, a wide river was streaming infront of them. The river started somewhere behind a closeby hill and the water had been dyed brown by the rust and earth that has mixed into it.

"How are we going to get across?" Hot Shot asked. "I'm not going to touch that goo." "And it's also pretty deep", ComCom added. "We might not be able to get back up." "Hey, calm down", Sparky said. "I told you that I had thought about everything, didn't I?" Sparky pointed father down the river side. Everyone turned to look into the direction Sparky pointed to.

"We can get across by using those big rocks!" Sparky proclaimed cheerfully. Hot Shot examined the line of rocks. They were big enough for one young transformer to stand on. They all were pretty close together. It would be easy to jump from one rock to another. Hot Shot nodded his head, satisfied. "I seems possible", he said. He heard ComCom let out a heavy sigh next to him. "Fine then..." ComCom muttered.

"Then it's settled!" Sparky cheered. "I'll go first!" Sparky ran to the edge and jumped to the first rock. It was pretty close to the edge so the jump was easy. Sparky felt his friends' gazes on his back and swallowed. He had to make this look good.

Sparky jumped for a nother time. He landed on the centre of the rock. Sparky licked his upper lip in concentration. He shouldn't start celebrating too soon. The next jump would have to be a lot longer.

Sparky jumped...and landed on the rock safely. A victorious smirk spread on Sparky's face. "Way to go, Sparky!" he heered Hot Shot cheer. "You'll reach the halfway soon!" Halfway? Sparky looked back at the rocks and indeed, he hadn't even reached halfway yet. Sparky took a deep breath and crouched a bit. If he could manage to get enough strenght behind his next jump, he could cross two stones with one jump.

Sparky heard ComCom shout out in suprise when he jumped. Sparky still managed to land on the spot he wanted to. Sparky let out a laugh. This was alot easier than he had thought.

"Watch this!" Sparky shouted to his friends over his shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid!" he heard ComCom reply. Sparky only laughed and jumped again. This time he was aiming three rocks ahead. Sparky felt his foot barely touch the last rock. He started to fall backwards. "AAAGH!" he yelled while swinging his arms around wildly.

Just when Sparky thought he was going to fall into the water, he felt something push him upwards. When Sparky's feet were secured on the rock, he turned around to look into Hot Shot's suprised optics. "Thanks, Hot Shot", he managed to say. "Don't ever do that again..." Hot Shot said in a strained voice. Sparky could only wonder how Hot Shot had managed to be there just in time to catch him. "But how..?" he started. "When you told us to watch, I immediately knew that you would do something risky. I started crossing the rocks immediately. Sparky blushed slightly. "Am I that transparent?" he asked, embarrased. "Maybe a little", Hot Shot admitted. Sparky turned back to the direction he was headed for in the first place. "So the next of the way will be more careful?" "That would be nice..."

Sparky jumped the next jump easily. The distance wasn't even close to his previous jump. The next jump on the other hand was a bit longer but Sparky cleared it easily. He heard a suprised yelp from behind himself and turned around just in time to grab Hot Shot's arm. Only Hot Shot's left foot hit the brown water.

"Thanks..." Hot Shot said with a relieved sigh. "Hey, we're even now", Sparky laughed and continued forward with Hot Shot right behind him. The rest of the was was gone without any trouble and soon the duo was standing safely on the other side.

"You're turn now, ComCom, Swipes!" Sparky cheered across the river. "Coming, coming!" ComCom shouted back "Ok, Swipes, come." Swipes followed his brother right next to the edge and noticed how ComCom was shaking. Hot Shot and Sparky had gotten across, so why was ComCom so nervous about it? Swipes shook his head and decided to let it be. Maybe he would understand it when he was a bit older.

Swipes watched while ComCom jumped the firts two jumps. The older bot shouted out in fright during the both jumps and was clearly nervous. Swipes jumped after him.

"You can do it, ComCom!" Swipes heard Sparky shout out, "There's nothing to be afraid of!" Swipes saw his brother nod and jump again. Once again ComCom succeeded in his jump. Swipes jumped on the rock, on which ComCom had been standing a moment ago. He managed the jump barely and felt an insecurity rise.

ComCom jumped quickly the next two rocks. It seemed that he had finally started to believe in himself. Swipes on the other hand felt his insecurity grow. Even that jump had been too long. How was he going to handle the longer jumps that waited ahead? Swipes wanted to turn back. The older boys didn't even want him along. They had taken him along so that he wouldn't have felt left out.

Just when Swipes was about to tell the other boys what he thought, he heard ComCom call him. Swipes lifted his gaze up and saw his brother standing on the other shore. When had he gotten there? How long had he been standing there?

"Come on, Swipes!" ComCom shouted from the shore. "Why did you stop there?" "Start jumping, kiddo!" Sparky added. "Why have a tight schedule to follow!" "Since when have you care about schedules?" Hot Shot asked. "Since the squirt there started to stall." "Let it slide", Hot Shot growled and turned to Swipes with a friendly smile on his face. "Are you tired? Do you want me to come and get you?"

Swipes felt himself blush. Hot Shot was so nice to him. Swipes shook his head furiously. "So you don't want me to come?" Swipes shook his head again. "I'll come myself!" Swipes answered and jumped to the next rock in order to back up his words.

Swipes looked back into Hot Shot's face. The yellow bot was still smiling. "Way to go!" he cheered him on. Swipes suddenly felt a sudden seed to impress Hot Shot. He squeezed hims mouth into a tight line and jumped the next rock with a lot of strenght behind it. This would be the longest distance Swipes had jumped so far and he even succeeded in it.

Swipes smiled proudly while he prepared for the next jump. "Wait!" he heard ComCom shout out. "Don't jump! The distance is too long! We'll come and get you!" Swipes shook his head. "No! I can do it, I'm a big boy already!" With that said Swipes jumped. He was sure that he would succeed in it. Swipes feet only me air and he shouted out in suprise. The next thing he knew, was that he was going underwater.

3.

"SWIPES!" ComCom shouted out in horror. "I'll go after him!" Hot Shot roared and jumped into the water. "HOT SHOT!" "Calm down, ComCom. We can get them up", Sparky said and ran the edge. He jumped a few rocks to get the the centre of the river and started eyeing the water. "I'll find them soon. Just for your information, ComCom, my scanners are high-class."

4.

Swipes could only see brown liquid everywhere. To add to his misery he even wasn't water-proof yet, and the water was coming inside his armor through smile openings he had. His feet were already unusable.

Suddenly a dark figure covered Swipes' visioin. First Swipes thought that his vision was also damaged but when the figure came closer he knew that it wasn't so.

Swipes felt someones arm come around his body and pull him up. Through the brown liquid Swipes saw a pair of bright blue optics.

5.

"I found them!" Sparky shouted out suddenly and sunk his arms to the thick water. ComCom rushed to his friends side and grabbed the thing Sparky was trying to bring to the surface. It turned out to be a yellow arm, a yellow arm that was attached to Hot Shot's shoulder, Hot Shot's who had Swipes safely secured in his arms.

6.

Hot Shot felt when he was dragged to the shore. His head was spinning like mad. Everything seemed to rush past too fast. He felt when he was laid down on the grass.

"Hot Shot?" ComCom's voice reached Hot Shot's audio receivers. Hot Shot finally managed to control his optics and noticed a worried look on ComCom's face. "I'mggg..." Hot Shot spat the green liquid out of his mouth. "I'm fine, ComCom..." he finally managed to say. "I guess you can then let go of my brother." Hot Shot hadn't even noticed that he was till holding Swipes tightly with his other arm. The smaller bot had also wrapped his arms around him and his optics had turned grey. Swipes was unconciouss.

"Swipes?" Hot Shot whispered quietly after he had sat up next to the bot still laying on the ground.

Swipes' optics lit up with a faint light blue light. "How do you feel, Swipes?" ComCom asked, worried. The small bot managed a weak smile. "I feel fine, I guess..." he muttered quietly. His optics met Hot Shot's. "Thank you...Hot Shot..." Swipes said weakly. Hot Shot answered Swipes' weak smile with a one of his own. "I couldn't have just let you drown." ComCom nodded. "Thank you for saving my brother." "Hey, I didn't really do that much", Hot Shot said with a blush. "Thank the one who pulled us **both** out of the water."

"Why thank you, Hot Shot", Sparky said while kneeling down next to Hot Shot. "But don't forget how bravely you jumped to the river." "Enough about that!" Hot Shot hissed. "We have to get Swipes somewhere where he can get fixed!" That said Hot Shot lifted the said transformer into his arms. Hot Shot rose from the ground shakily and turned towards his two friends.

"Where's the closest health centre?" Sparky pointed down the hill with his finger. "In that direction", he replied. "Lets go then." "Right!" ComCom looked even more helpless than on the first day of school. Hot Shot could understand the state he was in. It was ComCom's own brother who was injured. Hot Shot believed that he would also feel as helpless as ComCom if it would have been his brother in question.

7.

ComCom sat in a chair in the waiting room and leaned his head on his hands. He had never before felt himself so helpless. It was a good thing that Hot Shot and Sparky had been there. If ComCom had been alone, he wouldn't have been able to come through.

Suddenly ComCom felt a slight touch on his shoulder. He lifted his gaze into Hot Shot's bright blue optics. "Hey, are you ok?" Hot Shot's voice was compassionate and tender. ComCom shook his head. "I'm so mixed-up..." Hot Shot kneeled infront of his chair to be on the eye-level with ComCom.

"He's going to be fine..." ComCom managed a weak nod. "But I'm still scared... I'm so scared, Hot Shot." That said ComCom threw his arms around Hot Shot's shoulders and hugged his friend. He leaned against Hot Shot's shoulder and let his feelings come loose.

Hot Shot was first helpless when he felt the first tear drops run down his shoulder. But he decided to do what he thought was right. He wrapped his arms around ComCom and let his friend cry against his shoulder.

"Older brother..?" ComCom's optics widened when he heard the fant voice. He turned his head towards the door. A small transformer was standing at the door. "Why are you wetting Hot Shot?" Swipes asked his brother and tilted his head aside a bit, looking slightly confused.

"Swipes!" ComCom shouted out and ran across the room to his brother. He wrapped his arms around the smaller transformer and held him tightly against himself.

"You're ok!" ComCom shouted out in relief. Swipes tried to crawl out of his brothers hold but was forced to give up soon. "I'm perfectly fine, ComCom..." he whined. "Don't crush me..." ComCom, however, didn't seem to listen. "Don't ever again do that!" the older bot commanded. "No no, I promise as soon as you let go of me!"

Hot Shot stood up and watched the two brothers with a slight smile on his face. Sparky walked next to him. "That Swipes is going to grow up to be one disturbed transformer..." Sparky muttered. "Why do you say that?" Hot Shot asked. "Just look at that crushing he's receiving. That has to affect the kids mind for the rest of his miserable life." "What do you mean? Is he going to grow up to be some kind of a crusher?" "Worse. He might hug some stranger for completely no reason at all." Hot Shot shook his head. "You're being paranoid..." he said. Hot Shot then grinned playfully at his friend. "Unless you're just jealous?" "What is that suppposed to mean?" "You know what it means, you also want a hug and now you're moping because you didn't get one." "Have I ever told you how strange you can sometimes be, Hot Shot?" Sparky growled. "Just for that comment **I** won't be the one to hug you for comfort. Sorry." "I'll show you who's hugging who!" Hot Shot knew that that was his kew to run.

_**To be continued...**_


	6. Back to School

Author's Notes: I finally got the sixth chapter done! Woohoo! Time for celebration! And for those who have asked: Yes, I AM going to finish this story. I have big plans for it and it would be a shame to stop half-way. (Don't worry, people. I'm not even nearly half-way done.) But now, lets get down to business. The sixht chapter, here you go!

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 6**

**Back to School**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Every vacation ends sometime and so did Hot Shot's vacation. Once again he walked in through the gates of Glismax Academy. He noticed that he was automatically looking around, searching for familiar faces among so many unknown ones.

"Hot Shot!" a voice suddenly shouted out. Hot Shot flinched. The voice belonged to a girl so there was no way that it belonged to neither one of the two transformers Hot Shot so desperately wanted to find. Feeling a bit insecure Hot Shot turned towards the one that had called him. The shouter had already managed to catch up with him.

"Flaring Blade?" Hot Shot was confused. He had never spent much time with any of the Rainbow Triplets during the past school year. As usual, both of Flaring Blade's sisters, Aqua Pulse and IceTwister, were standing behind her. The name 'Rainbow Triplets' came from the girls' optics, that were constantly changing color.

Flaring Blade's frame color was very different from the ones of her sisters'. Flaring Blade's frame was mostly orange and it had red spots on it. IceTwister's and Aqua Pulse's frames on the other hand were mostly light blue. IceTwister also had white on her frame but Aqua Pulse's other color was light pink. All three girs were smiling brightly at the moment.

"How was you vacation, Hot Shot?" Flaring Blade asked politely. Hot Shot gazed into her optics and noticed them changing between blue, light blue and pure white. Hot Shot felt himself blush. He couldn't believe that we was scared of those optics but they were truly a ghostly sight.

"Re-really well actually. ComCom and Sparky even managed to visit", Hot Shot muttered. He could have kicked himself for that. He had been stuttering! Flaring Blade's nore her sisters' smiles never faded. Either they had not noticed Hot Shot's stuttering or they did not pay any attention to it.

"Ho-how was your vacation?" Hot Shot asked in return. The Rainbow Triplet's smiles clearly widened. "Oh, it was all fine and dandy. But a lot of time went into helping out dad in his laboratory. He is a scientist, by the way." Hot Shot nodded to Flaring Blade's answer.

"I think we should put the formalities aside now", IceTwister pointed out. Aqua Pulse nodded. "Ask him, Blade." Flaring Blade sighed. "Hot Shot, what I'm going to ask you is very important. So please answer thruthfully." Hot Shot looked once into Flaring Blade's optics, that were changing to purple at the moment, and nodded. "Do you ever hear voices, even though no one's there?" Hot Shot gasped. He thought that he heard another similar sound coming from somewhere near. He also heard speaking. _'How did she know?'_

Flaring Blade's optics turned brighter. "He's speaking now, isn't he?" she asked. Hot Shot shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about..." he growled and turned around to leave. "We can help." Hot Shot turned back towards Flaring Blade. "How?" he asked through gritted teeth. "I bet it isn't too nice, when there's always someone there. I bet you have no since of privacy." Hot Shot nodded. "It's a miracle that I haven't lost my mind..." he muttered. "We can shut him out." "Really?" "We aren't sure for how long but it could be that he will never disturb you again." Hot Shot looked thoughtful. It was not like he had anything to lose.

"When can you start?" he asked the triplets. "Tomorrow after lessons." "Perfect." Hot Shot then smiled his first real smile that day.

1.

Sparky and Sparkly walked together inside the gates of Glismax Academy. Sparkly had just finished telling her brother, that some older transformer had though she was older and tried to hit on her. The poor girl had been scared half-dead.

"It's nothing to laugh about, Sparky!" Sparkly screamed at her brother. "I've never been so scared!" Sparky wiped an energon tear from his optic when he had winally managed to stop laughing. "What did you think he would do to you?" he asked. Sparkly blushed. "You know what", she growled. Sparky let out a laugh. "There aren't that kind of creeps around here, Sparkly", he said, trying to calm her. "And besides; in school you'll be perfectly safe."

Sparky didn't hear her sisters reply, for his attetion had turned elsewhere. A bit farther on the yard was Hot Shot, who seemed to talking about something with Flaring Blade. Sparky was confused, put it lightly. The Rainbow Triplets did not socialice often. They liked to hang around each other. Sparky told his sister that he would meet her later and started marching across the yard right when the trio left.

2.

Hot Shot turned around while still deep in thought and suddenly found himself staring right into Sparky's curious optics.

"Hi, Sparky", Hot Shot said with a smile. "Hi", Sparky growled and looked over Hot Shot's shoulder. Hot Shot figured that he was looking after the triplets.

"What business did they have?" Sparky asked. Hot Shot grinned. Sparky was so predictable. "Nothing special really", Hot Shot said. "They just asked how my vacation was." "They never communicate with others", Sparky said in disbelief. Hot Shot only shrugged. "Maybe they figured that they needed to make some more friends."

Sparky looked like he was ready to voice out his suspicions, but he was interrupted by a loud yell that echoed throughout the yard. "HOT SHOT! SPARKY!" ComCom's voice shouted. Both transformers turned to watch as their friend ran across the yard to them. Sparky seemed to have forgotten about the triplets by then and that Hot Shot was grateful for.

"You'll never guess who I met on my way here! ComCom cheered when he made it to them. "I can't say I have any idea..." Hot Shot admitted. "So don't keep it to yourself for nothing!" Sparky added. "Who did you meet?" "Do you remember Blurr?" ComCom asked. "Yeah, of course!" Sparky laughed. "Who wouldn't remember?" Hot SHot watched his friends, confused. "Who is this 'Blurr'?" he finally asked.

Sparky and ComCom stared at him for a while. "We met him last year", ComCom said. "We sat and ate with him." "He was accompanied by that cute femme bot", Sparky added. Hot Shot shook his head. "I can't think of anyone like that." "Are you absolutely sure?" ComCom asked. Hot Shot nodded. He looked at his friends' confused faces and felt himself blush. Sure he had a bad memory, but how had he managed to forget a person Sparky and ComCom remebered so well?

"It doesn't matter, Hot Shot", ComCom said suddenly. "We only met him once last year. It's no big deal if you don't remember." Sparky started nodding. "That's true", he said. "You were a bit off-the-boat that morning. It's no miracle that you don't remeber anything."

Hot Shot lowered his gaze. He was grateful that his friends tried to cheer him up, but he still felt awful.

Before Hot Shot managed to say anything the school bell rang. It was time to go inside. "We are supposed to go to the same room we used last year", ComCom explained while the trio walked inside. "We should find our new schedules there." "I can hardly wait", Hot Shot admitted. He was already feeling better since the topic of the discussion had changed. "We should start two new subjects this year." "Yup", Sparky said. "ADP and combat skills." ComCom shook his head. "ADP sounds good but I'm not too keen to learn combat skills", he said. "Don't be like that!" Sparky growled. "It's going to fun!"

Soon the trio was in their familiar room. "So, where are the schedules?" Sparky asked. "On the table, of course", ComCom said and walked to the desks on the other side of the room. He picked up three envelopes from the table and handed two of them to Sparky and Hot Shot. "These are yours", he said while the two took the envelopes.

After three sounds of paper being torn the room grew silent while the boys went through their schedules. "Ugh!" Spaky flinched. "What is it?" ComCom asked. "Look at the subjects we have tomorrow", Sparky growled. "Combat skills start then. I don't see the ptoblem", ComCom pointed out. "The subjects before that!" Sparky grumbled. "ADP and History?" ComCom muttered. "What's wrong with them?" "Hey hello!" Sparky shouted. "How do you expect me to learn anything in the Combat skills lesson when I'm comatose?" ComCom only blinked in confusion.

"After the History teacher has tried to stuff my head full of stuff that happened a millenia ago, I can't focus on anything." "That doesn't make any sense!" ComCom growled. "Yes it does!" Sparky argued. "Right, Hot Shot?" Sparky turned towards Hot Shot's bed, which the transformer in question had sat on a few minutes ago. Hot Shot was lying sideways on the bed, his back towards the arguing duo.

"Hey!" Sparky shouted out. "Are you asleep?" ComCom started to laugh. "I'm not so sure about that", he said. "But I must point out that atleast I think that his snoring is pretty convincing." Still laughing the shorter transformer grawled into his own bed, leaving Sparky glaring at Hot Shot without any results.

Finally the dark trandformer gave up with a heavy sigh. "How strange..." he muttered to himself. "Somehow I get this sudden feeling of deja vu..."

3.

The next morning Hot Shot's optics lit up just seconds pefore the clock rang. He was up with a jolt, streching the sore joints in his arms.

Morning...Hot...Shot..." Sparky managed to mutter between yawns. "Morning!" Hot Shot greeted cheerfully. "I never knew you were this cheery at mornings..." the dark bot muttered. Hot Shot shrugged. "Just had a good sleep, is all."

"Are you excited because the Combat skills start today?" ComCom asked while starting his own morning streches. Sparky was the only one of the trio who did none.

"Not really..." Hot Shot replied. Indeed, he was excited by something else entirely. Today he would meet up with the Rainbow Triplets, who had promised to help him with his slightly schizophrenic problem. "It's just good to be here again."

Soon the trio was out the door, walking towards the school cafeteria. "I wonder if the gang has changed durin the vacation?" Sparky said. "Probably", ComCom replied. "Most of them got their upgrades durin the break. They'll atleast be taller if nothing else."

"Well, look at that", Sparky said while he looked further down the hall. A familiar trio was standing just outside the cafeteria doors. "Looks like SteelGlide and his friends put up a welcoming committee for us."

Hot Shot's hands formed to fists. Why wouldn't the jerk just give up? Hot Shot was sick and tired of kicking his sorry metallic butt to the next semester. He had done it enough on the first year. (And gotten into enough trouble at that.) Hot Shot stopped infront of his menace and looked at his face decorated with a cold smile. "Good morning, SteelGlide", he said neutrally.

"Hello, Hot Shot", was the cold reply. "Ready to get your over-sized ego ripped to shreds and handed back to you?" Hot Shot aswered the cold smile with a bloodthristy grin. "_'Bring it on, you pile of second-hand spareparts!'_" he hissed. SteelGlide backed away a step, strartled. Hot Shot was a bit suprised himself.

"Not here", SteelGlide said, composing himself. "It wouldn't be good for me to get into trouble for giving you a well-deserved beating. Especially on first day of school. We'll take care of this at the Combat skills lesson. Surely the teacher won't mind us practising together." Hot Shot grinned. _'You're a sly one, aren't you...'_ "What ever", he said in a bored matter. "I can wait a few hours to crush you." "Don't count on it..." was the reply.

At that SteelGlide and his two companions walked inside the cafeteria and Hot Shot and his friends got inside also. Hot Shot knew that SteelGlide couldn't care less if he got into trouble. He was probably just looking for a chance to beat Hot Shot up in public. He had obviously grown quite the crudge for Hot Shot. Hot Shot couldn't really blame him for that. SteelGlide had lost his face infront of his classmates every time he had tried to beat Hot Shot. But Hot Shot could blame him for being so stubborn.

"That idiot should get himself a life!" he growled while he sat at the table, eating with his friends. "He really should get something better to do than try to be the 'cool bully'", Sparky agreed. "But we can't really do anything about it", ComCom put in. "Except beat him up every time asks for it", Sparky said with a laugh. "And hope he gets the idea..." Hot Shot muttered. "I'm tired of ramming his nose in, but I can't just stand still and let him attack me. I have to defend myself." "Maybe he'll grow tired in time", ComCom suggested. "I'm sure he'll grow tired sooner or later." 'Rather sooner...' Hot Shot thought.

At breakfast Hot Shot had some time to think. SteelGlide wasn't stupid. 'Well...he isn't a complete idiot...' Surely even he would have understood by the that he couldn't match Hot Shot's superior speed and strenght. Unless he got his strenght boosted in his last upgrade. But what kind of parents would allow that? Getting an upgrage always required the agreement of the transformer's guardian, if the transformer wasn't in full age of 12 upgrades. So SteelGlide couldn't have obtained more strenght, unless his parents didn't pay much attention to his doings. Even the nurses in the orphanage looked after their charges, even though the children weren't originated from them.

4.

Professor Altroa was a dark purple young femme with bright magenta optics. Hot Shot had heard from Sparky that many older students had a crush on the dashing teacher with a soft voice. Hot Shot would never admit it to either of his friends, but he also thought the teacher's voice was like music. And she also looked a lot nicer than Spiralfox. Professor Altroa reminded Hot Shot of nurse Loir. This was probably the only reason Hot Shot bothered to listen at the ADP lesson at all.

Not that it was anything important anyway. Professor Altroa only spoke of what Automatic Data Processing was all about and what topics they were going to cover on the first course. She also told them when their skills were to be tested. Hot Shot didn't capture the details, though. He was too busy listening to Altroa's voice to register what she was saying. Hot Shot decided that Professor Altroa had the nicest voice he'd ever heard. And it wall also slightly familiar. Without noticing it, Hot Shot was lulled to sleep by the soft voice.

_"What are you doing, Hot Shot?" a soft voice asked. Small Hot Shot lifted his gaze up from his work to look at the cream colored femme bot infront of him. Hot Shot couldn't be older than three upgrades._

_"Nothing, momma", Hot Shot replied the womans question. "For 'nothing' it sure makes a lot of noice", his mother said. Hot Shot smiled sweetly at the femme. "It's nothing now, but it'll soon be something great", he claimed happily._

_"Is it for your father?" "Yup!" Hot Shot said with an enthuastic nod. "It's for daddy when he comes home." "What is it going to be?" Hot Shot gave his mother a sly smile. "It's a secret." At that Hot Shot leaned back over his work. He would have to be careful with his project. He didn't want to get shocket, since this was the first time he ever tried to make a lighter. Hot Shot smiled when the got the small wire attached. He only hoped his father would like the flashlight he had made by himself._

"Hey, Hot Shot..." a voice called through the blurr of the dream. "Huh..?" Hot Shot managed to mumble through the haze he was in. He lifted his head from his dest to look at ComCom's face. The smaller bot had a small smile on his face. "Class is over. You fell asleep", he said simply. "I thought you were supposed to be energetic today."

Hot Shot shook his head to get the weariness of sleep out of his head. "It was that teachers voice..." he muttered. "What about her voice?" ComCom asked. Hot Shot wondered his dream. What had that been exactly? "...nothing..." Hot Shot muttered in response to both his pondering and his friends question. "...nothing at all..."

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Just to refresh peoples memory: when a transformer gets an upgrade, it's the same as having a birthday. The correct human ages for upgrades are in the first chapter. But to notify shortly, 12 upgrades is the same as 16 years in human life.


	7. Pure Gold

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 7**

**Pure Gold**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Hot Shot was silent the whole way to the history class. He felt confused and lost. What had that dream been? Was it all his imagination or was it an actual memory? What ever it was, it had left Hot Shot with a hollow feeling of loss.

Hot Shot walked into the History class after his friends and, to his horror, noticed that the only seat available was next to High Voltage. Feeling beaten, but more back in this world, he sat next to his dark purple and black -armored classmate. High Voltage's lime-colored optics lit up immediately.

"Why hello there, Hot Shot", he said in an over-cheerful tone. "Hi, High Voltage", Hot Shot replied. "I heard that you're quite the playboy", High Voltage said suddenly. Hot Shot almost choked. "WHAT?" he shouted out. Fortunately for him the teacher hadn't come in yet, for PlainGreen didn't respect loud vocal abilities.

"I heard that you've got it going on with the Rainbow Triplets. Atleast with Flaring Blade." High Voltage's optics were getting brighter by the moment, which always happened when the boy was curious or excited.

"Get a grip, High Voltage", Hot Shot grumbled. "We only have seven upgrades, for Primus' sake." "My dad always says that if you want a balanced relationship, you need to start experimenting early." "Have you ever heard of moderation?" Hot Shot asked. "And besides, I don't think your father meant that you should start on the second year course of Academy." High Voltage only shrugged. Hot Shot turned forward, waiting for the teacher to come. "So", High Voltage started. "Will you spare one of the Triplets for me? Doesn't really matter which one. They're all pretty rawr..."

PlainGreen walked to the class and started his lecture on the topics of the following course. He was so deep in his lecture that he didn't notice the rather large dents on High Voltage's head and cheek.

1.

Sparky yawned widely. "Finally", he said. "I sure am glad that's over." "I really don't see what's so terrible about History", ComCom pointed out. "I think that the Energy Wars are quite interesting to read about." Sparky sighed. "There are countless of reasons to dislike History", he said. ComCom shook his head. "Then name a few." "One: the teacher's old. Two: the teacher's boring. Three: I like the present much better than the past. Four: The teacher's an old rust bucket." "You said 'old' two times." "Just shut up, will you?" "Okay guys, we're here!" Hot Shot shouted over the argument-in-making. "We'd better get in line with everyone else."

The trio joined the line that had been formed on the side of the practise grounds. All second years had Combat skills together, and Hot Shot recognized a few faces among the growd. He didn't know anyone's name, though.

"Good morning, class", came a booming voice. Hot Shot's head whirled around in suprise. He soon saw the massive teacher. Hot Shot remembered him from the day he first came to the Glismax Academy. The black frame with red flames on it was hard to forget.

"Good morning, teacher", Hot Shot greeted with rest of the group. "Most of you already know who I am, but I am going to introduce myself anyway. I am Crushingor, and I am going to be teaching you Combat skills this year."

Hot Shot needed to look at his teacher once, and he was sure that the man knew about combat. Everything about the older transformer screamed "fighter". Hot Shot wouldn't have been suprised if he found out that the man had belonged to the army.

Crushingor started handing them holographic pads. Hot Shot looked at his own and realized that it was a description of basic combat techniques.

"In these pads are the moves we'll be practising for the next few lessons," Crushingor said. "Now everyone of you choose a partner to practise with." Hot Shot looked around and locked optics with SteelGlide. "Don't forget our deal", the green optics seemed to say. 'Don't worry', Hot Shot thought. 'I won't.' He walked over to the dark red transformer.

"For a moment I thought you were going to chicken out", SteelGlide said with a sneer. "More like you hoped", Hot Shot shot back. "The day I fear you is the day Cybertron ceases to exist." "Don't kid about stuff like that", SteelGlide said. "I can bet that your nerves fail before this planet does." "How about putting your fist where your mouth is?" "How about I put it where **your** mouth is?" "Just shut up and fight."

SteelGlide finally slid into the instructed battle position. Hot Shot placed his pad on the air, where it stayed with its in-built magnets. Hot Shot had always thought that those things were handy. Hot Shot turned to face his oponent, only to get a punch on his nose. SteelGlide had not bothered to wait for Hot Shot to get ready. That did not suprise Hot Shot one bit. He knew that SteelGlide was not the type of person to play fair.

"I don't think that move was in the instructions", Hot Shot said. "I just thought that I should improvise a bit", SteelGlide answered. "I call that one 'The Unmatched Bullseye'." "I think that 'The Pathetic Excuse of a Sucker Punch' would be a better name." SteelGlide struck again and Hot Shot blocked it with the instuction 003 from the pad. The simplest one possible, but so was SteelGlide's battle technique.

SteelGlide started throwing punches rapidly, and every time Hot Shot blocked the punch by bringing his arm infront of the blow. All transformers were built to have harder shell on their lower arms, so using them to defend was the simplest of all basics.

After a couple of punches Hot Shot realized that SteelGlide had gotten stronger since their last fight. Obviously his parents really let him do whatever he wanted with his upgrades.

Suddenly SteelGlide kicked sideways with his left foot. The foot hit Hot Shot on the back of his knee and the yellow bot lost his balance. He fell backwards to the ground. SteelGlide let out a laugh.

"That definitely isn't in the instructions", Hot Shot muttered. "All is fair in love and war, Hot Stuff", came SteelGlide's reply. "In that case..." Hot Shot said while quickly inspecting his knee for damages. There was none. 'You want to play dirty, eh? Ok then, lets play!' "This has been declaired war!" At that Hot Shot jolted up from the ground and slammed into SteelGlide's stomach. Both boys fell to the ground.

SteelGlide and Hot Shot rolled on the ground, both of them trying to get the upper hand. They were throwing punches randomly at each other and kicking around aimlessly. Neither of them was thinking about what they were doing. They just wanted to beat the other. They didn't pay attention to where they were punching, or trying to find a weak spot to attack. The only thing that mattered was that they dealt a powerful enough stike to leave a dent on their oponent. Neither of the boys noticed that everyone had stopped their practise to stare at them. They never saw the teacher coming, either.

"That's enough, boys!" Crushingor's voice came through Hot Shot's foggy mind. He still didn't register it, though. "I said: THAT'S ENOUGH!" Both boys were pulled upwards and ripped out of each others throats.

"Into the headmasters office, both of you!" Crushingor roared and pushed the boys roughly towards the school. "And if I hear that you as much as pinched the other on your way there, I'll make sure that you're in detention untill your graduation!"

Sheepishly the boys started walking towards the school building. They were both still boiling inside, but Hot Shot did not want to get into any more trouble. And it seemed that SteelGlide agreed with him. The walk through the halls to the office was silent and it seemed to Hot Shot like it was both too long and too short.

The duo sat down on opposite sides of the waiting room. The headmasters secretary, Archive, looked at the boys once and nodded to herself. She recognized the two boys from the various times they had been sent into the office last year. She quietly asked the headmaster if the two could be sent in. The answer came shortly.

Archive cleared her throat. The two boys lifted their gazes from the floor. The other looked ashamed while the other just looked cocky. "You can both go inside now", Archive said. Both boys stood up and Archive noticed the yellow-armored boy change the look on his face from ashamed to an idifferent one. Archive shook her head and sighed. She recognized the type. It was sad to look at a child who was too afraid to show his emotions. But it was none of Archive's business, so she said nothing. The boys walked into the office.

Hot Shot and SteelGlide walked into headmaster Datamist's office. The first thing that caught Hot Shot's attention was that there was someone with the headmaster. A large red and blue transformer with the Autobot symbol on his shoulder. The large transformer's lower face was covered by a silvery face plate. Hot Shot noticed that SteelGlide was clearly frightened by the large transformer. But when Hot Shot looked into the golden optics, a sudden feeling of warmth surged through him. There was something about this transformer that soothed him and calmed his raging mind.

"Hot Shot, SteelGlide", Datamist spoke in a tired tone. "Why is it always you two?" "Because Hot Shot's ego is bigger than the cosmos itself", SteelGlide said. Datamist's optics flashed dangerously at the disrespectful tone.

"Yes..." he said. "I can see where this started from. You'll both have detention on every day of this entire week. And you, SteelGlide, you'll receive an extra week for such inappropriate behaviour. You are dismissed."

SteelGlide stormed out of the office in a fit of rage. Hot Shot turned to follow him out.

"Hot Shot, I would like for you to stay for a moment", Datamist said. Hot Shot turned back towards the headmaster.

"You're a talented student, Hot Shot", Datamist started. Hot Shot blinked in confusion. Why was the headmaster praising him? "You have so much potential, but this aggressive behaviour ruines your chances. You will have to learn control." "But it's always SteelGlide who-" "I'm not interested in that, Hot Shot", Datamist said. "I'll discuss SteelGlide's problems with SteelGlide himself. We're talking about you here." Hot Shot lowered his head with a sigh. "I apologise." Datamist leaned back in his chair.

"You have been arranged a place in the more advanced language group", Datamist said. Hot Shot's face brightened up instantly. "The lessons will be held at the same time as your classmates have basic languages. The only difference is that you will be going to the class 0056. Professor Wavestream has already been informed." "Thank you", Hot Shot managed to say. Datamist only nodded.

"You can go to eat now", the headmaster said. "After that you should go see Spectacle. I trust you know the way there." Hot Shot blushed at the comment. He walked to the door. He turned back at the door. "Thank you, headmaster", he said. "You're welcome, Hot Shot." Hot Shot's gaze turned once more at the Autobot standing next to Datamist's desk. He hadn't spoken anything during the conversation at all.

The bright golden optics locked with his own. There was strange warmth in the look the older transformer was giving him. Hot Shot could have sworn that the transformer was smiling at him gently behind his faceplate. Hot Shot felt himself blush. He quickly rushed out of the office.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but I thought that it would be good to end it here. There is going to be more of this mysterious transformer in the later chapters, so I'm not going to reveal anything yet.


	8. Prophecy

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 8**

**Prophecy**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Hot Shot ate quickly in the empty cafeteria. He didn't know where SteelGlide had disappeared to after he had been told off by the headmaster. Not that he cared about the jerks whereabouts.

After Hot Shot was finished with eating, he left to walk to the basement level of the Academy. The school nurses office was positioned in the basement floor. Whatever for, Hot Shot had no idea.

Spectacle, the school nurse, was a light pink and white female transformer with a habit to hum or even sing while she worked. It wasn't a bad habit really, since Spectacle had a beautiful voice.

When Hot Shot arrived at the office, the first thing he noticed was the soft singing. Hot Shot turned his head towards the desk where Spectacle sat, crouched over a pile of papers. The nurse was silently singing to herself. It was a song that even Hot Shot recognized, even though he was not musical. It was an old lullaby, older than the oldest transformer alive. Hot Shot smiled at the memory of nurse Loir singing it to him in cold Duty Season nights, when a raging storm had frightened him.

Hot Shot shook his head and cleared his troat. Spectacle's head snapped up and she turned her bright blue optics to look at Hot Shot.

"Hot Shot", she said. "Here again? And it's still the first day of school. How do you do it?" "I'm just myself", Hot Shot said with a shrug. "It's not my fault that SteelGlide doesn't like the way I am." Spectacle shook her head. "You two are always at each others throats. That can't be healthy to either of you."

She noted for Hot Shot to come closer. "Let's get you batched up", she said. "You can't go to your next class looking like that." Hot Shot walked over and sat down on the research bed. He sat calmly and let Spectacle go through the various dents on his armor. The nurse started singing and Hot Shot noticed that he had started humming to the soft beat.

_"Lana ara ha gene_

_toi ha elie ri kema_

_nera ha liban_

_tu lena alta raltar_

_Ha spry nerain tu kali_

_li tro a neli lipu ulal_

_lynypu ala kalnari_

_tooia ri manai_

_Loja kaja loia ri Delma_

_Loja luun oma naltai_

_Loja ame delain fola_

_Ahein fola mu fela_

_Atra nanain to tylin_

_mu er kaja ahunin_

_Elier nak ahu nakram_

_mu tona ihe nalal."_

Hot Shot blinked after Spectacle started the song all over again. He understood the lyrics. He had not really listened to the song before because he had not understood the language. But now the words had a meaning to him.

"Those are pretty strange lyrics for a children lullaby", Hot Shot pointed out to Spectacle. The medic looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" "Well, the things that the song tells about aren't really happy..."

Spectacle only shrugged. "Few have studied the language that the song is sung in", she admitted. "Even I don't know what the lyrics mean." "I wrote a report on the language for my languages class last term. It's the language of a race known as Keliens. Their race disappeared many millenniums ago. Nowadays Kelien is a forgotten language but since we used to have a close relationship with the race, some of their songs have stayed in the minds of transformers."

Spectacle listened to Hot Shot's explanation and nodded. "Keliens were very superstitious. They made many phophecies. No one really understood how someone could see the future from the position of the stars."

"'Olsa' means 'prophecy' in Kelien", Hot Shot commented. "That is also the name of the song." "So is the song another one of the Keliens' prophecies?" "Probably. I have no idea what it means, though." "It's not a happy prophecy." "If a prophecy only promises fortune and good weather, no one is going to take it seriously." "Keliens were weird people." "Don't forget that we also seemed weird to them." "I guess so..." Hot Shot finally admitted.

The yellow youth stood up from the recharge bed. "Well, I'm off", he said. "It won't look good if I'm late from my first language lesson in the more advanced class." "Have fun!" Spectacle cheered after him when he rushed out of the room.

Hot Shot soon made it to the correct classroom. 0056 the headmaster had said. Hot Shot looked around and saw some older students starting to pour towards the classroom. These were apparently his classmates for the course.

Hot Shot felt his stomach twist in anxiety as the classroom door opened. He could feel few of the other students look at him as he walked inside the classroom. He tried to blend in to the crowd but it was rather difficult, since he was over a head shorter than the others. Not to mention his yellow armor made everyone very concious of him. He would really have to change that.

Hot Shot scanned the classroom. He had never been in this classroom before. There were plenty of seats here, like in most of the classrooms on the first floor. Hot Shot picked a seat in the second last row, right next to the window. All the seats in the last row had been taken so he would have to make do with this. At least most of the class could not stare at him without attracting the teachers attention.

Professor Wavestream walked behind the teachers desk like nothing was out of the ordinary. Hot Shot had never met this teacher before, so he decided to try if he could find out anything by observing the teacher. Professor Wavestream was an average-looking, average-sized male transformer with a light blue armor. His optics were dark blue, a very unusual color. Wavestream looked experienced, but was not old. It was difficult to make anything out of him.

Professor Wavestream let his gaze drift over the classroom, counting the students. He nodded his head when he was finished. Apparently no one was missing.

"Good day, class", Wavestream greeted in a powerful voice. "Good day, teacher", the class replied. "This course will deal with the languages of Atragon galaxy. Can anyone tell me anything about the languages in question?" Hot Shot's arm rose in a reaction learned from ComCom. Wavestream's eyes flashed in his direction, a reaction that could mean anything.

"Hot Shot?" Wavestream asked. It would figure that the teacher remembered his name. He was the only student who did not fit into the ground. Meaning, he was a shrimp compaired to the others.

"The lifeforms of Atragon galaxy have a short lifespans, only from one hundred to three hundred years, which leads to their languages being quick to learn. A common feature in their languages are short words, which make their sentences short and a bit rough", Hot Shot spoke, returning the text he had read some weeks ago into his mind. ComCom had instructed him to read some of his new text book, so that he could grasp the more advanced language classes. A good advice, he decided.

"Very good, Hot Shot", Wavestream said. Hot Shot was certain that he heard an ounce of suprice in his tone. Apparently Wavestream had underestimated Hot Shot's ability to memorize linguistic details. And who could blame him? He had never taught Hot Shot before. Still, Hot Shot could not help but feel satisfied by his accomplishment.

1.

Hot Shot was suprised to see ComCom and Sparky waiting just outside the classroom when he got out of language class.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked the duo. He was answered by two identical grins. "Research", they both replied. Hot Shot stared at Sparky with wide optics. "What has ComCom **done** to you?" he shouted out, acting horrified. "Very funny", ComCom shot at him. "So you're the new comedian of the group now?" Sparky added.

"Hey, seriously, how did you know where I had my lessons?" "Easy, professor Wavestream teaches the higher language classes", ComCom started. "And Wavestream always teaches in the same classroom", Sparky added. "And you know this how?" "We already told you; we did research." "Actually, Sparky's sister, Sparkly, has a crush on professor Wavestream. She knows everything about him."

"But I don't get it", Hot Shot spoke. "Get what?" ComCom asked. "How does Sparkly know Wavestream?" "That's a good question." Both turned to look at Sparky. "She asked his help on her language project last year. She didn't know what language to choose. She told me that Wavestream was very nice to her and now she's head over heels for him." "You mean that end of the year assignment?" ComCom asked. "The one I did on Kelien?" Hot Shot specified. "The same."

The trio started walking towards the library. They had two spare hours before mechanics class. They could use it on their homework so they would have more free time later.

"What does Sparkly see in Wavestream?" ComCom asked Sparky. "How the heck am I supposed to know?" the darker bot replied. "I've never met the guy." "What is he like, Hot Shot?" ComCom asked Hot Shot. The yellow bot only shrugged. "He was very formal during the lessons. You can't really expect me to get to know someone in only two lessons." "Good point."

"Is it really enough that you're nice to someone?" ComCom asked. "Is that really enough to make someone fall in love?" "Who said anything about anybody being in love?" Sparky put in. "I didn't say Sparkly was in love." "Yeah", Hot Shot put in. "We really aren't old enough to bother ourselves with things like that. It will only confuse us."

ComCom was silent for a while. "I think I'm going to start psychology on fourth grade", he said. "Why in the world do you want to do that?" Sparky asked. "We are a mechanical race. If we get broken, we can be fixed. But if our spark is harmed it may never heal. It goes for both visible and invisible damage." "You mean mental and physical damage?" Hot Shot asked. ComCom nodded. "Every skar stays in out spark forever. I want to learn to understand that. Why do we have such a weak part?"

Hot Shot thought about ComCom's words for a moment. "It keeps us alive, you idiot", Sparky hissed. "There's no other purpose for it and it doesn't need one either." Hot Shot smiled. Trust Sparky to come up with a simple solution to a difficul question. "Sparky is right", Hot Shot said. "And besides, I really think we should go and get started on our homework."

2.

"You should really try to stay out of trouble, Hot Shot", ComCom said suddenly. Hot Shot looked up from his language text book. "Excuse me?" "You heard me. You're always in trouble and sent to the headmasters office. You'll never pass school if you don't take a hold of yourself."

Hot Shot put his book down to turn his complete attention to ComCom. "You're serious about this, aren't you?" he said. "Dead serious. These fights with SteelGlide have to stop." "It's not like I can help it", Hot Shot said. "He attacks me. And besides, it's no big deal." "No big deal? It **is** a big deal you idiot!"

Hot Shot turned his attention away from ComCom to look at Sparky. "What do you think?" he asked. Sparky had always been on his side.

"Sorry, Hot Shot", Sparky said. "But you're a troublemaker." "What?" "Just ask anyone. You'll get an affirmitive as an aswer for sure."

Hot Shot leaned back in his chair as ComCom beamed at Sparky. "Traitor", he growled. "Hey, I'm not saying I'm against you or anything. I'm only stating the facts. You get in trouble more than anyone else in this school." "SteelGlide gets in trouble more." "Well, he is a loser. He doesn't count."

_Night covers the entire universe_

_puts every soul to sleep_

_trashes every body_

_and leaves behind the pieces_

_Every spirit broken and abused_

_cut down from their lifeline_

_cries out for a hero_

_hopes to survive_

_A light is lit into the dark_

_The light shines bright golden_

_The light wakes the dead fire_

_Revived the fire shall burn_

_The gift given by god_

_shall not be forgotten_

_The souls clear like crystal_

_shall bring the new dawn_

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: That's the translation of the song in the end. I came up with the Prophecy song myself and even invented the Keliens and their language. I put a little word game into this chapter. If you take the last syllable of the word 'kelien' and put it in the front, you get 'enkeli'. That's the Finnish word for 'angel'. I have this weird obsession with angels.


	9. Lure Of The Darkness

Author's Notes: I'm really sorry about the long delay, but I haven't been able to write anything at all in a while. That's also the reason why the chapter itself is a bit short.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 9**

**Lure Of The Darkness**

**By: DarkAnimus**

The Mechanics lesson was quite similar with all the other lessons they'd had that day. Hot Shot could describe the double lesson with one word: boring. Sure, FogMist was a good teacher but there really was nothing special in the lessons. Hot Shot hoped that other lessons the year were going to be more interesting.

The dinner hour was a complete haze to Hot Shot. ComCom and Sparky were fighting over something, like always. The topic of the fight escaped Hot Shot's attention, though. But he thought he heard something about toothbrushes, whatever those were. Or then he had just heard wrong.

Hot Shot ate quickly and rushed off to get to the library. He heard ComCom shout after him but paid no attention to it. This was far more important than dimmer touches or whatever.

Hot Shot looked around the library, trying to locate the Rainbow Triplets among the few groups of students. He didn't really undertand the point in his own actions. It wasn't like the sisters ever hung out with other students.

When a hand grabbed his arm, his first reaction was to punch the person. He whirled around, ready to hit his assailant's nose in. When he recognized the transformer he managed to stop his fist just in time, only a few inches away from Flaring Blade's horrified face.

Hot Shot moved his hand away with an embarrased blush. "Sorry about that", he said. "It's an automatic reaction." Flaring Blade only nodded. "Remind me never to get on your bad side", IceTwister said from behind her sister.

Carefully Flaring Blade took a firmer grip of Hot Shot's arm. "This way", she said as her eyes turned dark purple. She started pulling Hot Shot into a dark corner in the library. Hot Shot moved along between the shelves. There wasn't much room in the small area between the shelves but it was the least likely that someone might locate them there.

Flaring Blade's hands moved to Hot Shot's shoulders and forced the yellow transformer to sit down. "Stay still while we take a few scans", IceTwister's voice commanded. "It won't hurt a bit", Aqua Pulse assured him. Hot Shot only heard a soft beep when the girls began their work.

1.

"Hot Shot?" ComCom asked as his yellow friend stood up from his chair and started walking away. "Hot Shot?" he repeated when he didn't get any response. The other transformer didn't stop. Far from it; he seemed to quicken his steps and almost ran out of the cafeteria.

"What do you think that was all about?" ComCom asked, while turning towards his other friend. Sparky only shrugged. "Who knows?" was the muttered reply. "Maybe he got tired of your nagging."

ComCom glared at Sparky, but it wasn't really effective, since ComCom had only little practise on the gesture in question. He wondered about Sparky sometimes. It seemed that the dark transformer was seeking for a fight every time ComCom tried to voice out his opinion on something. Heck, Sparky was on his case when ever he opened his mouth.

With a sigh ComCom gave up on the attempt to throw the other boy off. Sparky was immune to all kinds of glares, espesially ComCom's half-baked ones. And to think, this silly argument had started over something as stupid as reptile bushes.

Reptile bush was one of the most common organisms in Cybertron's atmosphere fields, but there was no affirmation if they were plants or animals, since they got their energy from eating smaller organisms. But on the other hand, they never moved from their spot, but stayed attached to soft ground their whole life.

ComCom had claimed them to be plants because of their high sugar levels, claiming that scientists believed that the only explanation for that was that the reptile bush was capable of photosynthesis.

Sparky had argued, saying that if it ate other animals, then it was an animal. Plus, he believed that anything with needle-like teeth and huge claws had to be an animal of sorts. Plants don't try to rip you apart. ComCom had calmly stated that the bush's claws were too weak to pierce transformer armor.

ComCom turned his optics away from Sparky's. What was the other transformer's problem with him anyway? Sometimes he thought that the dark-armored boy only hanged out with him because of Hot Shot. It wouldn't have suprised ComCom one bit.

2.

Hot Shot stormed into the room he shared with Sparky and ComCom. He wished that the door wasn't automatic, just so he could slam it shut as hard as he possibly could.

Hot Shot sank on the floor, hearing the door lock itself behind him. Hot Shot's hands came up to squeeze his upper arms. His hold was so firm that if he would have been organic, he would have seriously bruised himself.

Hot Shot's shoulders shook as he hugged himself, willing himself not to cry. He was freezing and in pain, but the pain wasn't from his body. It was a strange, dull ache, that came from inside him but he couldn't really say where it came from.

Hot Shot couldn't help but agree with ComCom. The spark was unnecessarily weak, and way too easy to hurt. Hot Shot willed his optics shut and leaned forward, until his forehead rested on the floor. It was an awkward position to be found in but Hot Shot couldn't care less at the moment.

The thing making him feel worse was the laughter. The room around him was quiet, but a strange laughter echoed inside him. The laugh wasn't his own, but it sounded familiar. The laughter had a victorious ring to it, but it was far from friendly.

The sound made Hot Shot shiver and lay down on his left side, curled up with his knees against his chest. He still held himself tightly, hoping the voice that came from nowhere to disappear. But continued to echo in Hot Shot's ears, making Hot Shot believe that he was imagining the voice and that the real laugher had grown bored a long time ago.

"Leave me alone", Hot Shot begged from the empty room. "Stop it... Stop laughing..." Suddenly he felt an arm wrap itself around his chest as the laughter died down, fading away completely. One dry but relieved sob escaped Hot Shot mouth as he let his hands move over to his chest, tired of squeezing his arms. But he did not cry, a fact he would be proud of later on.

"Hot Shot", a voice whispered, sounding as if the words would have been spoken from right behind him. A hand closed itself around his right one, causing Hot Shot's optics to flash to life in suprise.

Hot Shot gazed down to his hands to see nothing there. A powerful suggestion. Hot Shot understood. That was why hadn't heard anyone come in. But for some strange reason the feeling of an arm around him and a hand holding his own didn't go away.

"I'm sorry, Hot Shot..." the voice whispered, sounding sincere. Hot Shot didn't really recognize the voice, but the presense was familiar. It was the same that plagued his mind when he wanted to be alone. The same lingering, invisible pesense that was there every moment of his life. The same one that had laughed so cruelly just some time ago. Hot Shot frowned.

"I bet you are", the yellow spat in a whisper. The voice sighed. "I don't know what came over me", he whispered softly. "I never meant to scare you, my _damah_..." Hot Shot felt his body become warmer when the voice whispered the word so affectionately. It was Kelien, and he knew the meaning of that word very well. Dama alone meant 'dear', whereas damah would be translated to 'dearest'.

Something told Hot Shot to fight the numbness that was starting to take over his body. He was so very tired. The other would watch over him while he slept, he knew that. But something was telling him that he didn't want it, that there was something very wrong. Hot Shot couldn't figure out what possibly could be wrong but he couldn't let it just slip his mind.

"I'll make all the pain go away..." the voice continued whispering. Hot Shot shook his head. "I tried to get rid of you", he said with a quiet voice. "Why would you do such a thing?" The hold around him strenghtened. "Because you're everything I have..."

Invisible fingers came up and started caressing his left cheek. Hot Shot could feel the arm slip beneath him to be able to wrap itself around him. The other arm didn't move and the other hand continued to hold his hands. Suddenly the thoughts about something being wrong seemed so absurd. Everything was finally fine.

"I'm everything you have aswell", the voice muttered to him softly. If Hot Shot would have been in a right state of mind, he would have argued and told the voice that he had friends who really cared about him. But as soon as the ghost fingers brushed against his cheek, his mind became a grey blurr. So, instead of claiming otherwise, he just simply sighed with contentment and stayed quiet.

"I will never leave you..." Hot Shot closed his optics at those five words. They made him feel safe. He didn't notice the world around him at all as his mind became more unfocused with every passing second. "Never leave me..." his mouth muttered without any order from himself.

With his optics closed, Hot Shot did not notice the arms around him becoming visible. Even though visible, the form did not seem physical. The transformer seemed to be sort of like a ghost, since it was still transparent.

3.

ComCom stormed through hallways, furiously muttering to himself. His words weren't audible but everyone who knew him knew that he was muttering something along the lines of 'stupid Sparky', 'idiot Sparky' and 'man I hate that Sparky'.

ComCom stopped infront on the door that lead to the room he shared with his two friends. He briefly wondered if Hot Shot had come here already as he inserted the key card to the lock and listened to the satisfying beep sound the lock made when accepting the key as the right one. The door slid open.

ComCom proceeded to walk into the room, only to freeze completely in his steps. He stared with wide optics at the room.

Hot Shot was lying on the floor, curled up in a fetal position. This itself was very unnerving, but there was something else, something that almost caused ComCom's spark to cease functioning.

There, howering above Hot Shot, was another Hot Shot. This Hot Shot was transparent and had one of his arms posessively around his completely visible counterpart. The transparent Hot Shot had lifted himself into a sitting position as soon as ComCom had walked inside. Now the ghost Hot Shot was simply glaring at ComCom while wearing a frown on his face.

ComCom felt his oil freeze as he stared into the glaring optics. Ghost Hot Shot had dark blue optics, that were so deep that they were almost black. This wasn't all that frightening really. The coldness those optics was the thing that made ComCom shiver down to his very core. The optics were so murderous and ComCom felt as if he's body had been paralyzed.

ComCom stole a worried glance at Hot Shot and saw that the other transformer wasn't moving at all. Fear surged through his wires as he thought about the worse possible reason for that.

The blue transformer's optics turned back to ghost Hot Shot just in time to see a smirk spread on the thin lips. ComCom could have sworn that he saw a fang stick out from the line of perfect teeth. But the smirk was gone too quickly for ComCom to confirm this observation. The smirk disappeared like it had never been to be replaced with a displeased frown again.

This situation was all but rational and ComCom could not think clearly. He shivered visibly and saw ghost Hot Shot's optics flash with amusement when he saw this. ComCom hated that thing, whatever it was.

The first part of himself that ComCom managed to gain control over was his mouth. Not that it was going to do him any good in this situation. His mouth opened and he let out a short yell. It was at the same time the most rational, and the most irrational thing he could have chosen to shout.

ComCom's voice echoed in the room and the hallway as he shouted two words. "HOT SHOT!"

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Another short chapter and this time a cliffhanger no doubt. I'm very displeased and pleased with myself right now. Displeased for the resons mentioned above and pleased because I actually got my motivation to write back. I haven't been able to write anything at all during the past two weeks. I actually wrote the last three scenes in a few hours. Woot! So, what do you think about the third scene? I think that it's a very powerful scene. And don't worry if it didn't make much sense. It's going to be explained in the next chapter: 'Two Sparks'.

Just in case everyone is wondering what I was thinking when I wrote that screming Hot Shot's name was both rational and irrational; it was rational because ComCom wanted to make sure that Hot Shot was alive and to get him to get up and away from the creep. And it was irrational because he had been staring there, looking stupid for a few minutes already. And it would have been more logical to scream for help.


	10. Two Sparks

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 10**

**Two Sparks**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Ghost Hot Shot stood up at ComCom's shout. The figure looked a lot taller than the real Hot Shot, but that might have been a mistake of ComCom, caused by the fact that ComCom was never this intimidated by Hot Shot.

Ghost Hot Shot took a step towards ComCom and ComCom suddenly had a very strong urge to turn around an run away screaming for his mother. But his body was still frozen in fear, stopping him from moving.

"W-who are...y-you?" ComCom stuttered. He was certain that his teeth clattered a few times as he spoke. Ghost Hot Shot smirked at him. The smirk was unlike anything he had ever seen on Hot Shot's face. This strange transparent transformer was nothing like ComCom's friend.

"I am Cold Gaze", ghost Hot Shot said. The voice was very much like that of Hot Shot, but it had a strange ring to it. Ghost Hot Shot lifted his other hand to point at ComCom. "And you", he spoke. "...are unnecessary."

1.

"Stupid ComCom..." Sparky muttered to himself as he walked around the school yard. He had nothing to do but there was no way he would go to his and his friends' room. ComCom would be there. He had said so himself. And where ComCom was, there Sparky would avoid going at all costs.

"I'm not even allowed to have my own opinions..." Sparky growled, remembering the argument they had had in the cafeteria. ComCom had started talking about how the reptile bush was a plant. Not that Sparky really knew much about the topic, but he had heard about the plant-animal hybrid.

It wasn't like Sparky had started an argument on purpose, but he always got so angry when ComCom presented his opinion as the only possible solution. He had reacted on impulse, he always reacted like that. And ComCom always got mad at him, just because he thought differently than him.

Sparky kicked the ground, growling in frustration. ComCom was such an impossible case. The only reason the blue transformer even glanced twice at him was because of Hot Shot. ComCom seemed to despise Sparky with such a passion

"Stupid snob..." Sparky muttered and turned to look at the school building. Why was ComCom such a stuck-up idiot? Sparky shook his head. And why did it bother him so much what ComCom thought about him anyway? Hot Shot was his real friend. It should only matter what Hot Shot thought.

Sparky frowned. "And he thinks we're both childish..." he said to himself. And it was true. He could almost swear that Hot Shot turned his voice receivers off on purpose just so he didn't have to listen to Spaky and ComCom bickering back and forth.

Sparky shook his head again. Despite all their faults the yellow transformer still spent his time with the two of them. So, that would mean that deep down Hot Shot really enjoyed their company. Sparky sighed. He really hoped that was so.

2.

"We don't need anyone else", Cold Gaze said to ComCom while folding his arms across his chest. "We've never needed anyone. We didn't even need mom or dad. They were both in the way..."

ComCom listened to Cold Gaze's words and realized something. Cold Gaze must have been Hot Shot's brother. Why else would he be hovering over him so protectively?

"So, what happened to your mom and dad?" ComCom asked, trying to buy time. Where was Sparky when for once he might have been needed? Cold Gaze smiled, looking very satisfied. "They're dead", he said, sounding disturbingly happy.

ComCom couldn't help but gasp. Of course he had known that Hot Shot's parents were dead. Hot Shot had said so himself. It was the happy and carefree tone that Cold Gaze used that shocked him. This transformer was happy that his parents were dead!

"You really are heartless", ComCom said simply. Cold Gaze shrugged. "You think I care about your opinion?" the yellow bot said while his dark blue optics flashed, amused. "If it was up to me, you would also be dead."

A grin spread across Cold Gaze's face and ComCom was now certain that he saw sharp fangs. "I could do it, you know", Cold Gaze said while stepping towards ComCom. "D-do what?" ComCom questioned. "Kill you. Hot Shot would never have to know..."

Suddenly a groan was heard from behind Cold Gaze. Both standing transformers turned towards the sound. Hot Shot was moving; he was waking up. A relieved smile spread scross ComCom's face whereas Cold Gaze looked troubled. Hot Shot's optics flashed back online and Cold Gaze disappeared at the same instant.

ComCom rushed to his friend's side and sat on the floor on his kness. "Hot Shot?" he called out softly. Hot Shot's head turned towards him as his optics tried to focus on him. "C-ComCom?" came the weak question. ComCom nodded his head quickly. "It's me Hot Shot. Everything's ok now."

Hot Shot seemed to drift off for a moment but his optics quickly came back to focus. "I'm not cold anymore..." he muttered. "Hmm?" "I hate the cold", Hot Shot continued. "He makes me feel cold." "Cold Gaze?"

Hot Shot's optics watched his own suspiciously. "How do **you** know his name?" "He told me himself." Hot Shot's optics dimmed at ComCom's response. "You talked with him?" "He was like a ghost", ComCom started to explain. "He was here, but he was transparent."

Hot Shot frowned when he thought. "I didn't see him even though I could feel his touch... I thought it was just a powerful suggestion..." "He must have become visible when you lost conciousness." Hot Shot shook his head. "He couldn't have been here. There are no such things as ghosts." "The universe is large, Hot Shot. There are a lot of things that we can't explain. Our sparks are one of them. And everyone knows that those are real."

Hot Shot sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right..." he muttered and sat up on the floor. His head was spinning and he let out a groan. "You ok, Hot Shot?" Hot Shot nodded his head. "I'm fine ComCom, just a bit dizzy."

"Who is Cold Gaze, anyway?" ComCom asked. "Is he your brother?" "What gave you that idea?" "Some of the things he said." Hot Shot frowned again. "I'm not sure what he is", he admitted. "He's a part of me but very different. We are from the same source but it's really difficult to explain really. Even the Rainbow Triplets were confused."

ComCom looked at Hot Shot with hurt in his eyes. "So, you went to the triplets with this instead of Sparky and me?" he asked. Hot Shot blinked at his friend in confusion. "Actually they came to me", he said. "I think you should tell me the whole story", ComCom put in. "Otherwise I'm not going to understand this..." Hot Shot nodded.

"It was as soon as I had come to school", Hot Shot started. "The Rainbow Triplets came to me, saying that they got strange readings from me and wanted to examine me a bit. I thought that it could do no harm. They might have even managed to get rid of Cold Gaze."

"I met up with them today after classes. We met in the library and they wanted to start working immediately. I could not help but agree." Hot Shot's optics dimmed again. "They were suspecting that I had accidentally obtained two operating systems, but when they ran some test they found out that my problem was a lot more complicated."

_Flashback:_

Hot Shot sat still as Flaring Blade scanned his systems with a small palm-sized computer. She clicked her tongue disaprovingly after a while. Hot Shot's optics directed a questioning glace at her.

"There seems to be nothing wrong with your operating system", Flaring Blade said. IceTwister clicked her tongue exactly like her sister and folded her arms across her chest. "Then where could the problem be?" she asked.

Aqua Pulse took out another instrument and placed it against Hot Shot's chest plate. "Try not to move, please", she said. Her voice was a lot weaker than her sisters', because she was usually quiet and let her sisters do the talking.

IceTwister looked at her pale sister disaprovingly. "The chance of a spark problem is 0.01 percent", she said. "So, I really don't think that-" "Bingo!" Aqua Pulse shouted out suddenly, interrupting her sister's monologue.

Flaring Blade came closer to the device Aqua Pulse was holding and looked at the screen. Her optics widened when she saw the result. "A split spark..." she muttered.

Hot Shot's own eyes widened at the comment. "Uhh..." he started. "What does that mean exactly?" "It means you have two sparks instead of one", IceTwister said in a professional voice.

"Can anything be done?" Hot Shot asked, sounding slightly defeated. He knew that spark problems were difficult, almost impossible to repair. "We could always use the spark delete system", Flaring Blade said and Hot Shot's eyes lit up. "...but..." Hot Shot felt his mood sink. "There's a very high chance that your real spark might be accidentally destroyed."

Hot Shot sighed and his shoulders slumped. "What are the odds?" he asked. "It's a fifty-fifty chance that either your own or this other spark is destroyed." Hot Shot nodded. It was frightening but he was pretty certain that he could go through with it.

"There's a fifty percent chance that your spark is destroyed and a fifty percent chance that the other is destroyed", Flaring Blade repeated. "But there are other complications." "WHat kind of complications?" "Let's assume that the program destroyes the right spark", Flaring Blade started. "There's a possibility that the program will also destroy both of the sparks." "How high is the possibility?" "Sixty percent."

"So, the complete possibility scale is that twenty percent says that Hot Shot's spark is destroyed, sixty percent says they'll both be destroyed and twenty percent says that the foreign spark is destroyed", Aqua Pulse calculated helpfully.

"So...the chances of me surviving are twenty percent?" Hot Shot questioned. Flaring Blade looked away, IceTwister nodded and Aqua Pulse bit her bottom lip. "We're sorry, Hot Shot", Flaring Blade said quietly. "I don't think you should take the chances, it's too risky."

Hot Shot only nodded. "You're right", he replied. "The possibility of failure is too great. It would be better to just let it be."

Hot Shot stood up. "Thanks for the help", he said to the triplets. "You're welcome", Aqua Pulse said. "Even though we couldn't really do anything." "It's ok. At least I won't be clinging to any false hope anymore..."

Hot Shot shook his head and faked a smile at the triplets. They had tried to help, he should not bring them down. "I'll be ok", he said and turned around. He walked steadily out of the library. Only after he was sure that the triplets could not see him he broke into a run. He did not think he could face anyone at the current moment. He would most likely break down. He needed a sanctuary. His room was the first option he thought of.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: This chapter is probably the shortest so far. Bleh.

That calculation is pretty confusing. It goes somewhat like this. 50: Hot Shot is destroyed, from which 60: Cold Gaze's spark is also destroyed. And the other 50: Cold Gaze is destroyed, from which 60: Hot Shot's spark is also destroyed. The calculation results are:

50 divided with 100 is 0,5, 0,5 times 60 is 30. 30 plus 30 is 60. So, there's the chance of 60 percent that the body is just an empty shell after the treatment and a chance of 40 percent that either Hot Shot or Cold Gaze is spared.


	11. I Won't Abandon You

Author's Notes: Everyone knows who the 'mysterious transformer in the principal's office' is, except for Hot Shot. He's always being left out. Well, he'll find out who the mystery transformer's identity eventually.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Part 11**

**I Won't Abandon You**

**By: DarkAnimus**

ComCom listened to Hot Shot's tale intently and placed his hand on the yellow shoulder when the other bot was finished. "I'm sorry..." he managed to say. "For what?" Hot Shot asked weakly. "It wouldn't do for me to dwell in false hope. Better that I know that it's hopeless."

ComCom let out a heavy sigh. This broken and scared boy infront of him made his spark ache. It was a tearing pain unlike anything he had ever felt, the same way the sight before him was something he had never seen.

Not knowing what else to do, ComCom wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders and held him tightly. They had both experienced too much pain that day. Far more than anyone their age should experience.

"Please, Hot Shot", ComCom whispered softly. "You will get through this. We will get through this. I'm here, helping you." Hot Shot's own arms came up to hold ComCom back. "Thanks", came the faint voice. ComCom was not sure how he could help Hot Shot or even if he could help him at all, but Hot Shot needed someone now and ComCom saw it as his duty to support him. Just like Hot Shot would do for him.

"He makes me forget things..." Hot Shot mumbled quietly. "What kind of things?" "People. Their faces, voices, everything. I've forgotten more people than just this 'Blurr' you and Sparky talked about."

ComCom bit his lip. There was nothing that could be done about lost memories. Hot Shot most likely knew this, considering his broken voice.

"What if..." Hot Shot started talking again, drawing ComCom's attention back from his ponderings. "What if one day I wake up here and don't recognize you or Sparky? What if I forget you both?"

ComCom thought about that. It was awful to forget people you knew you've met, but to forget people you've shared your secrets with? To forget people who knew you better than anyone else? Who you used to know? ComCom could not imagine what kind of feelings something like that woke in Hot Shot, except for cold, hard fear.

"You won't forget us", ComCom tried assuring Hot Shot. "You've known us for so long that you couldn't just wake up and not know us. And besides..." ComCom pulled back to look into Hot Shot's optics. "...even if you did forget us, me and Sparky would become your friends all over again. We will never abandon you, Hot Shot. I'm certain that Sparky agrees with me on this."

Hot Shot let out a faint chuckle. "For once, you mean?" ComCom smiled brightly at the yellow bot. "Yeah! That's the one thing we agree on!"

Hot Shot smiled at ComCom even through his energon tears. "Thank you", he said to his blue friend. ComCom's optics flashed a brighter shade of pink. "Anytime", the blue transformer said. "If you ever feel alone, just remember that me and Sparky are always here."

1.

Sparky stormed through the school hallways, not really certain of where he was going. No way he was going to the library to study. That was something ComCom would do, and Sparky wanted to avoid everything that had anything to do with the blue transformer.

Sparky almost did not notice the large transformer walking past him. He was colored red and blue and wore a silver faceplate. When the larger bot had passed Sparky, it took the black transformer two seconds before he whirled around to stare after the bot.

Sparky's optics were wide in suprise and his body had stopped moving. His mouth gaped open until the blue bot disappeared around a corner.

"W-was that..." Sparky shook his head. "Of course not! What would **he** be doing here? Absolutely nothing!" With a sigh Sparky rubbed his head. "I must be malfunctioning...or then I've got a virus somewhere..."

Sparky sighed again. "I guess I could head back to the room now...ComCom should have calmed down by now..." And if the blue bot was still fuming, he would probably take pity on the tired Sparky who had started seeing things. No, he would most certaintly **not** tell ComCom what he had just thought he had seen. The little geek would only laugh at him and make his growing headache worse.

2.

"It's very unusual for one spark box to hold two sparks..." ComCom muttered. Hot Shot only shrugged. "I wouldn't know about that. I heven't exactly payed much attention in repairs class." "A very big mistake..." ComCom growled. "Sometimes I wonder how you managed to pass that class at all, not to mention with a good grade."

Hot Shot did not reply for a while. After a moment he just shrugged. "Me too." ComCom let out a heavy sigh. "You're helpless."

ComCom's face soon darkened. "You think I could have a look at it?" "At what?" "What do you think? Your spark box of course!" "Oh! Sure, go ahead..."

Hot Shot and ComCom both sat down on their knees so that ComCom was almost eye-level with Hot Shot's chest plate. ComCom easily klicked the locks open and pulled the outer shell open to reveal Hot Shot's inner armor plates. The second locks took a longer time to open but finally ComCom managed to reveal the spark box underneath the plates.

ComCom eyed the locks on the spark box. They were very advanced and probably a pretty recent model since ComCom had never seen anything like them before. They were very similar with the lock model 798B but that was a very expensive locking system. The one on Hot Shot's spark box seemed even more advanced.

"Man, your parents must have been some pretty important people..." ComCom mumbled to himself. "What do you mean?" "This isn't just any locking system. This is probably the most advanced system on the whole Cybertron." "Wow... Not that it really matters. I don't really remember them..." "Well, they gave you a pretty decent legacy. This spark box isn't easily penetrated."

ComCom looked up for a moment to see Hot Shot frown slightly. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked. Hot Shot shook his head. "No", he answered. "I just wondered what my parents were like. If they were really as great as you say..." "Well, if they had as nice of a son as you, I bet they were!" Hot Shot smiled at ComCom again. "Thanks." "Hey, I'm only telling what I think."

ComCom turned his attention back on the locks on Hot Shot's spark box. "Can you open it?" Hot Shot asked. ComCom bit his lip. "Not sure..." he muttered while running his fingers down the different bumps on the metal. The whole box surface seemed to be made of bumps. It was a very effective way to hide opening mechanisms.

Hot Shot let out a sigh. "How long is this going to take?" "We'll see..."

3.

Sparky walked over to the door of the room he shared with his two friends. He inserted the opening code into the lock and waited for the system to react. He wondered if ComCom was still in the room and if he was, was Hot Shot with him. Hot Shot would surely make sure they did not start another argument.

"Is anyone here?" Sparky yelled only a few seconds before the door opened. Sparky did not notice when Hot Shot's hands shot up immediately to cover his unprotected and open chest. "Hey!" ComCom shouted out, not happy with being interrupted.

Sparky finally noticed the state his friends were in. "Am I...interrupting something?" he asked, sounding utterly confused. ComCom turned to glare at him. "Yes", he growled. "Shut the door already!" Hot Shot bellowed, clearly distraught. "Oh, right", Sparky said and closed the door while stepping completely inside. "So...whatcha doing?"

ComCom tried to prive Hot Shot's hands off his chest. When the door closed with a click, Hot Shot lowered his hands voluntarily. ComCom started to study the locks on Hot Shot's spark box. He did not bother to answer Sparky's question.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Sparky yelled. "What are you doing?" "Research", was ComCom's reply. "On what? How the type of a person's spark box affects their personality?" "That's been done countless of times already", ComCom said. "Why would I do something that didn't hold any challenge?"

ComCom let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back, away from Hot Shot. "I swear", the blue bot muttered. "I've never even heard of this secure locks." He gave Hot Shot's chest a poke. "Makes one think you don't trust those around you." "Please, ComCom", Hot Shot groaned. "I'm in no mood for spark box psychology!"

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: I'm going to be taking this story back to the less depressing mood, I'm pretty sure you noticed this from the chapter.


	12. Through Another's Optics

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 12**

**Through Another's Optics**

**By: DarkAnimus**

Hot Shot woke up the next morning, feeling unexpectedly content. There was no presense nagging in the back of his mind, which meant that Cold Gaze was going to play it low for a while. This suited Hot Shot just fine. He was just starting his second school year. He could not start cracking now.

It took a bit effort but Hot Shot finally maganed to drag himself out of bed. His joints kracked as they popped back to their right positions. "Guhh..." Hot Shot groaned, gritting his teeth in displeasure. And for some reason he was not feeling hungry, even though it would be breakfast time soon.

Hot Shot shook his head to get rid of the tiredness still in his systems. Maybe he would start feeling hungry after he woke up properly. He was not going to try and load himself when he was not feeling up to it. He had tried that last year. His head had almost exploded off. ComCom said he still had nightmares about that one.

1.

Alarie could not concentrate.

Alarie was a quiet student who always did what the teachers told her to. Actually, she did what pretty much everyone told her to. She was the type that would stay in the sidelines, listen and do as she was instructed by older and stronger transformers. And many transformers were stronger than her.

Since Alarie would never do anything that was against the school rules her grades were always a bit over average. But today she could not just sit quietly and listen to the teacher. Her eyes were locked on a fellow classmate sitting on the other side of the classroom. A classmate with bright yellow armor.

Something was wrong with Hot Shot, had been all day. The bright-eyed bot had been fidgeting in class, as if unable to stay still. He was also very jumpy, avoiding others whenever he could.

This was very strange. Usually Hot Shot would play with his pen or some computer chips and occasionally take notes. It was typical of Hot Shot to search for company, even if he did not take part in the conversation going on. Hot Shot did not like being alone.

And how did Alarie know so much about Hot Shot? It was not like the two of them talked with each other often, if at all. Even though Alarie kept her distance it did not stop her from listening and watching.

Alarie often found herself watching Hot Shot. She knew which color of energon he enjoyed the most, she knew how fast he could drive and his favorite and least favorite subjects. She also knew that Hot Shot had not eaten much that morning. 'He should', the violet transformer decided to herself. 'He doesn't eat enough for it to be healthy to skip meals.'

It was true, that a transformer could go even weeks without energon refills. But the transformer in question would have to have consumed large amounts of energon regularly. This way the transformer would have gathered a so-called emergency energy supply. And Hot Shot always ate irregularly.

It made Alarie sad sometimes, the way she watched the yellow bot. She would really like to talk to him but she could never gather the courage. It was very likely that Hot Shot did not even remember her name. It would be embarrasing to ask if the boy wanted to study together sometime, and get: "what's your name again?" as a response.

The worst thing of it was that Hot Shot did not like strangers. They were outsiders, he did not trust them. That was why he did not talk with anyone else than ComCom and Sparky. He was paranoid that way. Alarie knew this for sure. She watched.

2.

Hot Shot tapped the top of his desk with the tip of his pen. Someone was watching him, he could feel it. But it was not Cold Gaze, he would feel an eerie cold shiver if it was. But it was still distracting!

Hot Shot hated when people stared at him. That was why he did not talk so much, so that others did not have a reason to look at him. That was also the reason the searched crowds in between classes; to hide.

Another jolt went down Hot Shot's spine. He was already feeling faint because of Cold Gaze and now someone just had to keep staring at him. For once he would be happy if he could just take notes in peace.

3.

Sparkly was a lot like her brother in many ways. She always enjoyed a good race, she could gobble up energon like there was no tomorrow, she did not let anyone mess with her and she liked the same people her brother did. Sometimes.

Hot Shot was one topic Sparkly was not sure she agreed with. Sparky was good with people, Sparkly knew this, but she was not sure if befriending Hot Shot had been such a good idea.

In Sparkly's eyes Hot Shot was too quiet for a boy his age. He was not shy, that much Sparkly was sure of. Why did Hot Shot not keep a lot of rucus on hallways like everyone else did? Why was he so different?

Sparkly gritted her teeth as she watched Hot Shot fidget in his chair. She did not like it when something was out of the ordinary and everything about Hot Shot was out of the ordinary. The yellow bot smelled of exception, another thing Sparkly despised.

Sparkly also noticed Alarie watch the yellow transformer intently. Apparently Sparkly was not the only one interested in PlainGreen's lecture on The Third Civil War.

Alarie was the one transformer Sparkly found even stranger than Hot Shot. Sparkly turned back to her notes. Maybe those two were the type you could understand only if you knew them.

4.

Proxim dropped his pens in suprise when Hot Shot dropped himself into the chair next to him. As Proxim leaned down to pick them up he noticed that Hot Shot did not offer to help pick them up like he usually would have done. 'That's odd...'

Proxim had soon gathered all of his lost pens and sat back up. "Is something the matter?" he asked. "You seem preoccupied."

Hot Shot shook his head and offered Proxim a weak smile. "It's nothing", he said. "I'm just a little tired." "You do look a tad exhausted", Proxim admitted. "Thanks." "For what?" "For not saying I look like something that crawled out of an oil swamp."

That had Proxim quiet for a moment. Then he just said: "there isn't a species that could survive in the swamps. Not an organic one, anyway." Hot Shot simply shrugged let out a short and a bit strained laugh. "Tell that to High Voltage."

Proxim shook his head. It would make sense that High Voltage had come up with something like that. Not that Hot Shot himself did not have a sense of humor, Proxim knew he had one. The yellow bot just did not use it.

Hot Shot did not speak durin the lesson, so Proxim kept to himself aswell. Proxim never was the type to strike up a conversation. 'Now that I think about it...' the blue and orange bot thought to himself. 'Neither is Hot Shot.'

Proxim tried not to think about the possibility that Hot Shot might actually want to talk but did not dare to say the first word. It was a more likely possibility that Hot Shot was just antisocial.

5.

Hot Shot took down notes as Bolt Volt went on about the correct way to remove a cracked optic. Every now and then he would glance at Proxim, trying to get his attention and start a conversation. But the other bot would not look his way. It was as if Proxim did not want to talk with him.

Hot Shot sighed, leaning back in his chair. Well, he was not going to force Proxim into talking with him. He could understand perfectly that Proxim just was not the type to chat in class. Some transformers just were antisocial that way.

6.

That evening Hot Shot collapsed on his recharge bed, utterly exhausted. It had taken a lot of effort to concentrate only on studying, trying to keep all thoughts about Cold Gaze at bay.

Hot Shot was sure that his homework had not been done as well as he could have done them but he had not been able to keep his focus long enough to know if Bolt Volt had meant to ask about typical transformer shell analogy, whatever that was, or not. Hot Shot vaguely remembered ComCom say something about anatomy but he was sure it was nothing important.

"Hey, Hot Shot." A sudden call for his name caused Hot Shot to open his optics and focus on a dark room. 'That's strange', he thought. 'It was still bright when I left the library...' Finally Hot Shot's opics located a dark form. He gasped and was fully awake in nanoseconds. "Cold Gaze!" "Huh? Where?"

The question made Hot Shot realize that he was not feeling Cold Gaze's pesense, meaning his brother was still dormant. He willed his night vision to activate. Soon Hot Shot recognized the person standing next to his bed.

"Sparky?" Hot Shot questioned weakly. "You missed dinner pal. Are you feeling ok?" "Weak..." Hot Shot mumbled. "It's only to be expected. Have you gotten enough nergon today?"

Hot Shot was quiet for a long while. Speky let out an irritated sigh. "When was the last time you ate?" he asked. "...this morning..." "You barely ate anything at breakfast! No wonder you fell asleep like that!"

"Asleep?" Hot Shot noticed his voice was slightly off when he croaked the question out. "You were offline when I walked in", Sparky explained. "Apparently you fell asleep soon after you left the library."

Hot Shot nodded an affirmitive. "Right after I got in here, actually", he admitted. His words were barely coherrent and he felt his conciousness slowly start to slip away.

"Don't fall asleep!" Sparky yelled suddenly, startling Hot Shot awake. "But I'm tired!" the yellow bot whined. "I want to sleep!" "You need to eat something first." Hot Shot groaned. "The cafeteria doesn't sereve after dinner time", he growled. Sparky was being unreasonably unfair.

"No worries!" Sparky cheered. "I brought you something to nibble on." With that a chunk of energon was shoved into Hot Shot's face. Hot Shot grabbed the energon and took a bite. It was sweet. It was orange energon. "Thanks", Hot Shot said, truly meaning it. "It was actually ComCom's idea..." "Then I thank you both."

Soon all of the energon was gone and Hot Shot leaned his head back against the smooth surface of his recharge bed. As Hot Shot began to drift into sleep mode he felt Sparky pat him on the shoulder. "Sleep tight", was muttered barely audibly.

Hot Shot could not belp but smile. That was the most affectionate gesture he had ever received from the black transformer. Hot Shot slept well that night.

_**To be continued...**_


	13. Sparky Worries

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 13**

**Sparky Worries**

That Taiai had so far been a very uneventful day. ComCom mumbled a bit as he ate his lunch, clearly bored. Hot Shot, on the other hand was very happy about an ordinary day. Though it did feel like something was amiss.

"You're awfully quiet", ComCom said to the bot sitting next to Hot Shot. Sparky only growled. "What's the matter?" Hot Shot asked. "You've barely touched your energon", ComCom added. Hot Shot noticed this fact only just then. ComCom sure was perceptive.

"Sparkly..." Sparky started but clammed up instantly. "What?" Hot Shot pressed. "Did you two have a fight?" "Kinda..." "What happened?" ComCom asked, leaning across the table. "You can tell us", Hot Shot put in.

Sparky shook his head. "It's nothing, really", he said. "Come on Sparky!" ComCom whined. "Don't keep us in the dark." "I don't want to talk about it?"

Hot Shot could hear the irritation in Sparky's voice. It would figure for the dark transformer to be angry, but there had been a rather dangerous undertone to Sparky's voice Hot Shot moved slightly away.

ComCom's temper was also boiling, much to Hot Shot's discomfort. Why could those two not get along? It did not matter what Sparky did, it **always** annoyed ComCom. And ComCom would never back down, causing Sparky to lose his temper.

"Don't you trust us?" ComCom asked in a low hiss that was a mix of hurt and anger. "Do you think we're going to run off to tell evryone what's happened?" "That has nothing to do with this!" "So you admit you don't trust us?" "NO!"

Sparky slammed his fists down on the table, causing both Hot Shot and ComCom to jump. Then the black bot stood up and stormed off.

Hot Shot coughed nervously, taking a sip of his energon drink. ComCom only stared at Sparky's still half-full plate in complete silence.

"I'm sure he'll be ok", Hot Shot said and placed his mug back on the table. "Sparky is sure to have his energy levels high with all the energon he consumes daily." ComCom's optics narrowed. "At least he eats enough to survive on", the smaller transformer growled.

Hot Shot held back his angry reply. After all, ComCom's words were kind of true... And besides, Hot Shot was certain that ComCom had only said that because he was feeling lousy. He was clearly feeling quilty.

Hot Shot stood up and offered ComCom a weak smile. "Come on", he said. "We should head to class. Fogmist doesn't look kindly at tardiness." ComCom only nodded and stood up. He did not say anything on the way to class.

1.

Sparky was fuming. He was so angry that he thought he might just scream. Why did everything always go wrong? Why were his friends so nosy?

Sparky sighed and leaned against a wall. Who was he trying to fool? His friends had just been worried, that was why they had tried to get him to talk. Sparky had just wanted to take his anger out on somebody so bad that he had snapped at his friends without really intending to.

"I feel like waste oil..." Sparky mumbled to himself. He had not thought anyone would hear. Furthermore, he had not expected anyone to reply.

"You are heavily troubled, Sparkly's brother", a voice said softly, startling Sparky. He looked up into Lunar's yellow optics. "What do you want?" he hissed. "And stop calling me: 'Sparkly's brother'. I have a name. Plus, it's kind of creepy."

"I apologise, Sparky", Lunar said carefully. She looked down the corridor for a moment. "I had a little fight with ComCom and Hot Shot", Sparky admitted, guessing what the girl was looking for. "I know" the black and yellow bot answered. "I was simply making sure your sister isn't around."

Lunar leaned in closer, like she was going to reveal some big secret to Sparky. "It's just a crush you know", she said quietly. "Wha-?" "It's harmless. It will pass. Just accept it as a phase in Sparkly's life."

Sparky huffed, not impressed. "You came here to tell me **that**?" "We are but young and foolish children", Lunar continued. "Just give Sparkly time and she will forget about her silly fantasies."

Sparky shook his head, giving up. "I promise I won't go ballistic on her, that much I can guarantee", he said. "I still can't say I'm ok with it, though."

Lunar let out a relieved sigh, smiling at Sparky. "It's not like he would answer her feelings anyway", she said. "I know that", Sparky replied. "I just don't want her to make an idiot out of herself." "Mistakes are meant to be learned from." "Yeah, I guess so."

Lunar stepped away from Sparky, signaling that she was about to leave. "Thank you for listening to what I had to say", she said. Sparky nodded his head. "You're welcome", he muttered. "We should leave now. Mechanics class is about to begin." "What? Now?" Lunar nodded. "Damn! We're going to be late!"

2.

Hot Shot and ComCom walked into the mechanics class together. Hot Shot quickly scanned the room with his optics and noticed a free seat next to Forestra. Well, he could end up with a worse class partner.

Just when Hot Shot was about to walk to the green-armored girl ComCom grabbed his arm. Hot Shot turned a questioning gaze to his blue companion.

"Sit next to me, please", ComCom said. "But why?" Hot Shot asked. "You usually sit with Spark-" The way ComCom's lips pressed together caused Hot Shot to stop in mid-sentence. The pink optics of the shorter transformer would not meet Hot Shot's and Hot Shot realized that ComCom was embarrased about having to ask such a thing. And he also remembered the previous fight with Sparky.

"Sorry", Hot Shot muttered, scraching the back of his head. "Of course I'll sit with you." Hot Shot followed ComCom to the seats next to the window on the second last row.

Just as Hot Shot sat down he saw Sparky burst in through the open door. The black and white transformer looked through the room in a similar way Hot Shot had done only moments ago.

For a moment bright blue and orange optics met. Hot Shot felt very self-concious sitting next to ComCom, where Sparky would usually be sitting. Sparky did not get along with others well, that was one of the reasons he always fought with ComCom. But since ComCom was ComCom Sparky always tolerated the blue bot more or less.

Sparky's optics left Hot Shot's as the darker bot marched to sit on the set right ahead of Hot Shot, next to Forestra. Hot Shot would have wanted to say something, anything, but did not know how he could make everything fine again. Their group was broken, perhaps even beyond repair.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: I feel so cruel for doing this. I really hope the star trio can fix their problems or they will become a star duo. Oh, and I just noticed that in chapter 7 Hot Shot says that they have ten upgrades. This is a mistake. It's supposed to say seven upgrades. I've fixed that.


	14. Broken Or Just Bruised

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 14**

**Broken Or Just Bruised**

Sparky could feel Hot Shot's optics drilling into the back of his head. He was gripping the side of his desk with his right hand, trying to ignore the iching feeling causing by the fact he was being observed.

The black bot wanted to turn around but then he would have to face the questioning optics of his friend and he was not sure if he could keep his cool when facing the bright blue gaze.

It was true that Sparky had been a bit of a jerk, Sparky knew this himself, but he could not just take back everything he had said. Especially not this soon after he had spoken the words. And he was not the only one at fault, it was not like his friends had been all that tactful.

Sparky dreaded the evening already. He would have to go into the dorm, where he would have to face Hot Shot and ComCom sooner or later. Not that Sparky was worried about Hot Shot, the yellow bot was pretty laid back. ComCom was the problem.

ComCom was not someone you could easily calm down or who you could just apologise to. Not to mention ComCom had a habit of being angry for a long time, unlike Hot Shot. Sparky eased his grip on his desk. Hot Shot would probably try to get him and ComCom to make up, he was always the referee in their face-offs.

Sparky fought the urge to turn around. It was a very appealing idea to ask for Hot Shot's forgiveness now rather than later. Surely the yellow bot would have calmed down by now even if he had been angry with him. It would be a lot easier to face ComCom if he could count on Hot Shot to put a few good words in for him.

The chair creaked as Sparky slowly turned around. His optics met Hot Shot's own, just like he had expected. Sparky shot a sideways glance at ComCom to see the blue bot scribbling notes down with a deep frown on his face. The ignoring technique, one of ComCom's classics.

"Hi, Hot Shot", Sparky managed to choke out quietly. Hopefully the teacher would not look their way. FogMist might not like students that were late for class, but she utterly despised students that talked in her class. And the grey femme was scary when angered.

"Hello there, Sparky", Hot Shot said carefully, like he was trying out how that felt. The yellow bot frowned. "Hi", he said as a way of correcting himself. Sparky could not help it, he started chuckling. He noticed Hot Shot's optics lit up amusedly.

"Hot Shot, Sparky!" FogMist's annoyed voice called. Both boys flinched at the angry tone. "Stop disturbing the class immediately or I will be forced to send you to the principal's office. I don't think you can afford that this soon, Hot Shot."

Sparky shot Hot Shot an apologetic grin before turning in his chair to face the teacher. "We apologise, FogMist", Hot Shot spoke from behind Sparky. "It won't happen again." "It had better not."

Sparky noticed Hot Shot's choise of words with a smile. Hot Shot had said we apologise, not I. It was a small gesture but Sparky recognized it as what it was. It was Hot Shot's way of telling him things were alright without breaking the teacher's command to be silent. Sparky would have wanted to thank Hot Shot for the gesture but decided to leave it until the end of the class.

As FogMist continued with her lecture Sparky could hear Hot Shot shift in his chair, as if really uncomfortable. Sparky could very well guess what was the cause of it. He could clearly picture the disapproving look on ComCom's face in his head.

As Sparky peeked at Forestra's notebook to get all the things he had missed a thought crossed his head. They would have mathematics next and Calculate did not allow place-shifting on his lessons like FogMist. Sparky and ComCom had already been marked to be sitting next to eachother. It meant that the two of them would **have** to sit next to eachother. Neither one of them could hide behid Hot Shot's colorful frame.

1.

"Traitor", ComCom hissed as Hot Shot started to take down notes. "Excuse me?" Hot Shot turned to look at his smaller friend. "I didn't know there had been an agreement of not trying to solve this problem."

ComCom refused to meet Hot Shot's optics. "There's no need for you to get mixed into this", he said. Hot Shot snorted. "I think I already am mixed in this, rememeber? It wasn't just you and Sparky in that cafeteria."

Hot Shot was, put it lightly, irritated. ComCom was beating himself up and seemed to be taking a few swings at Hot Shot in the process. Good thing he was good at dodging.

"I was the one who pushed him over the edge", ComCom muttered. "He isn't angry at you, at least not anymore. Otherwise he wouldn't have tried to talk with you." "But isn't that a good thing?" Hot Shot asked, giving ComCom a pleading look. "If I put in a few good words for you he will be sure to forgive you sooner. I'll just-" "NO!"

The hissed prohibition caused FogMist to look into their direction for a moment but she soon turned her face back towards the blackboard. Hot Shot let out a breath he had not noticed he had been holding.

"What's wrong?" Hot Shot asked ComCom. He was starting to grow worried. "I don't want him to say it's ok because of you!" ComCom's hands were clenched into fists. "I hate it. It feels like we couldn't hold together without you."

ComCom's optics turned to look at Hot Shot with uncommon determination. "I want to be Sparky's friend", the blue bot said. "I don't want him to be just a friend of my friend, but a real friend."

Hot Shot could do nothing but nod and turn his gaze back to his notes. He had not known that the thing between ComCom and Sparky was like that. No wonder they never got along if they were not certain if they were friends or not. Well, at least it explained ComCom's behaviour. Hot Shot was not sure if Sparky felt the same way. After all, the cause of his attitude towards ComCom could be anything.

Hot Shot sighed. He realized that he was not going to be able to focus on taking notes when these thoughts were still on his mind. If only he would have listened to his friends' arguments and conversations before. He had always taken their group for granted, not bothering to notice the obvious wall between ComCom and Sparky.

Hot Shot started scribbling on his notebook. An image was starting to form. It was a face that had a very sinister look on it. 'I'm such a bad friend...' Hot Shot thought to himself as his pen ran across the paper. 'I don't even see it when my friends are being torn apart.'

ComCom suddenly leaned over to look at the page Hot Shot had been drawing on. Hot Shot was certain that the smaller bot would lecture him about the proper use of notebooks but instead he heard a gasp. "Hot Shot! How did you do this?"

Hot Shot looked down at what he had been drawing. It was a transformer's face. It was long and the chin and cheeks were sharp. The sneer on the face revealed sharp fangs. Hot Shot knew that the transformer's optics were red even though he could not remember if he had seen the bot on the drawing or not.

"What?" Hot Shot asked ComCom quietly. ComCom grabbed the notebook and stared at the image with wide optics. "This is Megatron", he gasped. Hot Shot's optics widened. "Who?" he asked. ComCom's optics turned to look at Hot Shot. "The leader of the decepticon. You would know if you had read this year's history book." He handed the notebook back to Hot Shot. "How did you know how to draw this?"

Hot Shot took the notebook and eyed the picture he had drawn. "I don't know", he answered truthfully. "I can't say I remember ever seeing him. I just started drawing and there he was."

ComCom's optics were once again locked on the picture. "Amazing", he whispered. "Maybe there is still a part in you that remembers all the things you have forgotten. Maybe you **have** seen Megatron at some point."

A simple shrug was Hot Shot reply to ComCom. "I have clear plank spots in my memory, but sometimes I have dreams that have an eerie feeling of deja vu to them. Sometimes I wonder if they're really memories and not just dreams."

"It's hard to know things like that", ComCom said. "It's not like there are just some books about our sparks and emotions that we can read when we're confused." Hot Shot leaned back in his chair, giving ComCom an amused smirk. "I bet you would like that", he said.

_**To be continued...**_


	15. Do You Believe In Second Chances?

Author's Notes: Lately I've been unable to write satisfyingly long chapters and I apologise for that. I've been writing too many one-shots lately. I will try to get my chapters back to the usual lenght of three to four pages instead of the two and a half I've been writing lately.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 15**

**Do You Believe In Second Chances?**

As he approached math class, Sparky noticed his steps become slower. He was not afraid, why would he be? It was not like ComCom could seriously hurt him. There was not even any proof that the shorter bot wanted to harm him. He just could not stand the sight of him. That was a different matter entirely.

...Who was he trying to fool?

He was so afraid that he could barely walk straight. He was not sure what he was afraid of, but it had something to do with ComCom's possibly vile mood. Sparky did not want to be stuck with an angry ComCom for two lessons.

1.

Hot Shot rushed out of math class with speed he did not know he posessed. ComCom and Sparky had not fought during the double-lesson, but they had not tried to fix their problems either. They had both been quiet, ignoring each other to the best of their ability.

And that pissed Hot Shot off to no end!

As Hot Shot marched down the school corridor, he hoped that neither one of his friends managed to catch up with him. He was in no mood for them trying to pour their spark out to him, telling him how they wanted to fix the situation but that the other was making things too difficult to handle. And then Hot Shot would offer to help and they both would decline.

Hot Shot groaned as he hit the side of his helmet. Those two were letting the situation run out of hand and Hot Shot was not going to be the one to gather up the pieces. Most likely he would have to do that but that did not mean he would have to do it without any grumbling and complaining.

The next class would be combat skills. Hot Shot had not come face to face with SteelGlide since their last lesson and Hot Shot was almost certain the other bot would like to finish their fight. That would not please Crushingor. The large teacher could be truly scary when angry. Hot Shot was actually more worried about seeing Crushingor again than SteelGlide's possible crudge.

Hot Shot stepped outside from the school building. He might aswell spend his recess outside since combat skills lessons were held on the outside field.

Hot Shot dropped down to sit underneath a tree. Just as he was about to close his optics for a quick dosing off a shadow loomed over him. Hot Shot lifted his gaze up, half-expecting it to be either ComCom or Sparky and half-expecting it to be SteelGlide with or without his cronies.

Hot Shot looked up, only to find himself face to face with a pair of golden optics. A pair of familiar golden optics.

"Hello", the large transformer greeted Hot Shot. Hot Shot simply nodded his head, speechless. He had seen this transformer before. He had seen him in the headmaster's office!

"Are you in trouble again?" the blue bot asked. Hot Shot blinked. "No. Why do you ask?" "Because you look troubled." Hot Shot shook his head. "I'm not in trouble. My friends are just being real idiots."

The blue and red transformer sat down next to Hot Shot. "Did you have a fight?" he asked. Hot Shot nodded his head and then shook it. The older transformer chuckled. "You aren't making much sense", he said. "How about you talk about it?"

Hot Shot took a deep breath before he started. "Sparky and ComCom are having a disagreement but neither one is backing down. I offered to help them out, put in a few good words here and there. ComCom declined so I don't think he would like it if I tried to meddle so I can't exactly speak for Sparky either."

The large transformer moved his right knee against his chest and threw his arm over it. "Let them sort it out", was all he said.

Hot Shot let out a deep sigh. "I feel so helpless when I'm only standing on the sidelines. With the way they're going this thing will be going on even after our graduation!" A hand on his shoulder stopped Hot Shot in mid-rant. He turned his optics to meet the golden ones of his companion.

"Many think that a transformer is judged by his actions and nothing more", the older bot spoke. "And many times others think only about what we've done. But it's probably the things we leave undone that affect ourselves and the world around us the most."

"What do you mean?" Hot Shot asked. "I mean, that sometimes things turn out better when left un-meddled. The difficult job is to know the difference." "So, you're saying that I might just make things worse if I tried to mess with their fight?" "Exactly."

Hot Shot was quiet for a moment, considering this option and the whole time he thought the other transformer sat silently. "They have never solved an argument on their own before", the yellow student finally said. "I have always been there as a referee." "That gives even more reason for them to learn to solve their differences on their own."

There was nothing Hot Shot could say to that. He really was tired of always pulling his best friends out of each other's throats. If they could just learn to deal with their problems without Hot Shot having to come to the between their situation could only grow better. Maybe the two would stop feeling so uneasy around each other if they learned to know the other. After all, if Hot Shot was able to stand the both of them there was no reason why the two of them could not learn to be at peace.

"Our group has never been whole, you know", Hot Shot said suddenly. "I realized that when ComCom said he wasn't exactly friends with Sparky, that Sparky was just a friend of his friend. I want all of us to be friends with each other." "It's not wrong to want that." It was the first time the larger transformer had talked in a while. "I think so too", Hot Shot said, already feeling much more confident.

"Don't you have a class to get to?" the large transformer said suddenly. "Oh no!" Hot Shot shouted out suddenly. "Combat skills! I'm so going to be late. And Crushingor is already disappointed with me!" The yellow bot jumped up to rush off.

Right before he was about to take off, something crossed Hot Shot's mind. "By the way..." Hot Shot started while turning towards the other bot. "I never caught your name." The blue transformer chuckled. "The fact I'm here is sort of a secret", he said mischievously. "How about you come up with a code name for me?"

Hot Shot was quiet for a moment. He did not need long to come up with the perfect nick name for the older bot, he just was not sure of it would be appropriate to call the other what he had in mind.

"You have to hurry up", the blue bot said suddenly. "Your class is about to start." Hot Shot decided to got with the first idea he had come up with.

"Is it ok if I call you Gold?" Hot Shot asked. The large transformer's optics widened curiously. "Why that?" "Your optics were the first thing I noticed about you", Hot Shot explained. "I like their color."

There was a faint chuckle and the red and blue bot nodded his head. "That's a fine name", he said. "I guess I should go now aswell." Gold stood up in order to leave.

"Will you be coming again?" Hot Shot found himself asking. "Maybe. Why do you ask?" "I want to see you again."

Gold turned around to give Hot Shot a warm look. "In that case I'll be sure to come as often as possible", he said. Hot Shot could not help but smile. "Thank you", he said quietly. Golden optics flashed brilliantly before the older transformer turned to leave. "I'll be seeing you around, Hot Shot." "Yeah! Bye, Gold!" Gold waved his hand before he vanished through the school gates.

It did not take long for Hot Shot to start moving aswell. "I'm so going to be late now!" he yelled in frustration. Hopefully there would be some normal pre-class chaos on the field and Hot Shot could slip into the crowd without Crushingor noticing that he had come in later than the rest of the class.

And if Hot Shot was not that lucky, then maybe someone would turn up even later than he would and Crushingor's attention would be on the worse rule breaker. The black transformer was scary enough to give first-years nightmares. ComCom had had them the first week after the selection seremory.

As Hot Shot got nearer to the field he noticed that everyone was in a neat row on the side of the field. Just Hot Shot's luck that today the class would be so scared that they did not dare to anger their teacher. Hot Shot stopped at one end of the row, panting heavily.

"Good thing you managed to make it to the lesson at all", Crushingor growled at Hot Shot, causing the yellow bot to blush. Snickering could have been heard from the row. The voice sounded like SteelGlide, which was no suprise.

"He's only five minutes late", Sparkly's voice came suddenly. Hot Shot's optics widened. He had gotten the impression that even though Sparky's twin sister did not mind him she did not quite agree on his friendship with her brother. And now she was sticking up for him.

"That is a good point", Crushingor muttered. "Fine. No punishment this time, Hot Shot. But you won't get off the hook next time, even if you're late five **seconds**, got that?" Hot Shot swallowed. "Yes, sir", he managed to utter out.

Crushingor went through the whole row and glared at his pad. "ComCom and Sparky are missing", he said. "Does anyone have any idea where they might be?" Hot Shot felt all eyes turn on him. 'Figures', he thought. "I don't know", he said outloud. 'Great, now everyone's going to know something's wrong.'

Fortunately there were no comments as Crushingor put something down on his pad and started the lesson. This time the heavily-armored transformer made sure that Hot Shot and SteelGlide would **not** be paired. Actually, he put them on the opposite sides of the field to make sure there would be no face-offs. Hot Shot ended up as Clawer's pair and SteelGlide's partner was SpiralBeam.

During the whole lesson neither ComCom nor Sparky turned up. This had Hot Shot perplexed, since ComCom would never skip class and Sparky was extastic about finally learning how to fight. It was a good thing for Hot Shot that the combat skills lesson was his last lesson that day. He would still have have time to search for his friends before dinner.

2.

When Hot Shot dragged himself to the room he shared with his friends, he was utterly exhausted. He had been searching for his friends but had not found anything. He had been searching for so long that he had almost missed dinner.

Hot Shot opened the door the the room, half-expecting to see his friends' smiling faces and to hear they had worked everything out and asking where the heck Hot Shot had been the whole day. Hot Shot's dreams were crushed, however, as he stepped into the empty room.

Just when Hot Shot was about to drop down on his bed, the door opened again. ComCom walked inside a bit warily but the small bot seemed to relax after he saw that only Hot Shot was in the room. Soon the relieved expression turned into one of worry as he saw the state Hot Shot was in.

"Gosh, Hot Shot!" ComCom shouted out. "You look terrible! What happened?" "I've been looking for you, that's what!" Hot Shot snapped, suddenly feeling very unforgiving. "For me?" "You and Sparky! You two are being such idiots! When neither one of you showed up to combat skills class I thought you might have seriously hurt each other!"

ComCom opened his mouth to say something but Hot Shot was not finished yet. "You two are only thinking about yourselves! I know I shouldn't butt in to your problems but I don't like to see you two fight!" Hot Shot hit the wall with his fist. "By Primus, you're my best friends!"

"H-Hot Shot..." ComCom choked out. "I didn't know you felt that way, I-" "I don't want to hear it!" Hot Shot interrupted. He climbed onto his recharge bed, facing the wall and showing ComCom that he was being ignored.

Hot Shot could hear ComCom move about nervously. He had not meant to snap at ComCom like that but he could not take it back, especially since he had meant it. He bit his lip and forced his optics to close. Why was he in so much pain? Why did his chest hurt so much?

_**To be continued...**_


	16. Gathering The Pieces

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 16**

**Gathering The Pieces**

When Sparky dragged himself up into the room he shared with Hot Shot and ComCom he was starting to feel more and more uncertain. It was true that he had not fought with ComCom durin the math lessons but they had not exactly fixed their problem either.

It was difficult to be around ComCom when having a fall-out like this. Of course none of their earlier fights had ever ended up this bad. That was the reason Sparky had skipped combat skills class. He did not know how he should act around ComCom in order to avoid the other exploding.

Sparky actually wanted to fix everything with ComCom. It was true that the two of them were not that close, but there was no reason for them to not be. But Sparky was not exactly how ComCom felt about this. He did not think ComCom enjoyed their reactions to each other but he was not sure if ComCom wanted to be friends either.

Sparky's fist tightened around the object he was holding. He was nervous, he did not want to make ComCom even angrier with him. He would have to do this right.

The door to the room opened and Sparky walked in to the room. It was quiet. Hot Shot was lying on his recharge bed, apparently asleep. ComCom was sitting opposite to him on the edge of his own bed, looking out the window. Sparky made his way to the blue transformer.

"Yo, ComCom", Sparky greeted in what he hoped to sound like a normal way. ComCom turned his head to look at him with his pink optics. Sparky was suprised to see them blurry and the shorter transformer's face wet with energon tears.

"Wow", Sparky breathed out and sat down next to ComCom. Not every transformer could cry. Being sad came naturally but the ability to actually shed tears was not something you saw every day. Transformers usually lost their tears around their fifth upgrade but apparently ComCom had not.

It took a moment for Sparky to recover from his suprise. "What's wrong, dude?" he finally asked. "I realized something a while ago..." ComCom said and sniffed, wiping some of the tears on his right cheek away.

"I've been an idiotic jerk towards you today", ComCom continued. "I shouldn't have tried to force you to tell something you didn't want to. And I shouldn't have been such a prick about you feeling touchy about it." "Hey, I was not touchy", Sparky argued with no real effort.

ComCom sniffed rather loudly. "Hot Shot got really angry at me for skipping combat skills. He spent the whole day looking for you and me, you know." Sparky felt really uneasy at that. Hot Shot had gone that far for them?

"I've never seen Hot Shot so angry before", ComCom spoke. "I really thought he was going to burst a cord, he was looking so furious. See that dent on the wall? Hot Shot did that with only his fist." Sparky looked at the wall to see a large dent on it. Just the size of Hot Shot's fist, to be precise.

"I've started to ignore my responsibilities, all because I was so self-absorbed. Not only did I break the fragile bond we shared, I even managed to drive Hot Shot away from me." New tears started to run down ComCom's face. "I don't know what to do."

Sparky lifted his hand. He was still holding an object tightly in his grip. "Here", he said as he offered the item to ComCom. ComCom peered at it through his tears. "It's an energon bar", Sparky explained. "You can get them from the senior side of the building."

ComCom carefully took the bar from Sparky. His hands were shaking slightly. "Younger students aren't allowed to the senior side", he said. "I know", was Sparky's response to the statement. "Think of it as a peace offering of sorts."

ComCom stared at the shiny blue wrapping. "You got it for me?" he asked carefully. "I know that it seems like I am trying to bribe you", Sparky said. "But I really brought it because I wanted to."

Both of the two transformers were quiet for a while. Neither one of them dared to move in fear of ending the illusion of calmness. ComCom was the first to break the spell by closing the bar inside his hands. "Thank you", he said softly. "I appreciate the gesture. It means a lot to me."

Sparky found himself optic to optic with ComCom again. "It really does", the smaller bot said. Sparky felt his mouth stop operating as all the energy circulating in his systems seemed to focus in his face. He had not thought ComCom would react so strongly to a sweet snack.

"Not many would think much of it..." ComCom said as he turned his eyes back on his present. "But I know to appreciate it, since it's from you." "W-what?" Sparky managed to stutter. "I know you aren't one for great displays of affection", ComCom explained. "From you, this really means something."

Sparky could not stop the smile that came to his lips. "And here I thought we didn't know each other at all", he said. ComCom chuckled softly. "I've been focusing so much on the things I don't know that I forgot the things I do know", he said. "Well, we have plenty of time to learn to know each other", Sparky said. "Friends?" he asked, offering the blue transformer his hand. ComCom took it. "Friends."

"You know..." Sparky said after a while. "You should eat that thing before you crush it." The black bot pointed at the energon bar still in ComCom's hands when he said this. "Oh! Right!" ComCom said, tearing the wrapping off. He took a huge bite off the bar, taking away half of the treat. "Delicious!"

ComCom finished the rest of the bar with a bit more dignity. When his smaller companion was done with the snack Sparky stood up from the bed. "We should go to sleep now", he suggested. "Before we wake Hot Shot up. I'm actually suprised he hasn't woken up yet."

A fond look passed in ComCom's eyes as he looked at his yellow friend. "He was extremely exhausted when I came. We might have to drag him out of bed tomorrow." Sparky snickered. "No worries!" he said. "Together we can get even Hot Shot out of bed."

Sparky climbed into his own bunk and laid himself down. "'Night, ComCom", he said before yawning. "Good night, Sparky", was the immediate response from below him.

1.

The sound of the alarm clock informed Hot Shot of the awful fact that he needed to get up. He managed to slowly sat up on his bed, groaning all the way. When his optics finally obeyed his command to turn on he was greeted by the sight of a widely grinning ComCom.

"Hey, you managed to get up!" the blue bot cheered. "Now me and Sparky don't have to drag you to the cafeteria from your feet. Cool!" "I don't know about that. I was kind of looking forward to it", Sparky said from behind the smaller bot. "Good morning to you two too", Hot Shot grumbled. He could not help but think something was off, but he could not remember what it was. He decided to just ignore the nagging feeling.

With another groan Hot Shot managed to stand up from his bed. "Let's get going then", he said. "We have a double-lesson in combat skills first thing after breakfast. I'm on Crushingor's black list and he isn't going to take another late arrival from me."

Hot Shot was half-way out the door when it came to him. "Hey!" he shouted out, whirling around. "You two were fighting!" He pointed accusedly at the duo smiling at him. "It's amazing what a snack bar can do, it really is", ComCom said secretively as he passed Hot Shot.

Hot Shot turned his questioning optics to Sparky. "A peace offering?" he guessed. Sparky only grinned at him. "A well-placed one", he answered. Hot Shot decided not to question the matter any more. He was feeling way too grateful to look a gift ride into the engine.

_Time Leap_

Sparky woke up to the sounds of movement. He opened his left optic to see Hot Shot's yellow frame walk around in the room. Knowing his friend never woke up early he came to one conclusion.

"AHH!" Sparky yelled as he bolted up in his bed. "I'm late!" This earned him a narrow-opticed look from Hot Shot. "Pipe down, will you?" the yellow transformer requested. "You'll wake ComCom if you keep that up." "Too late", came a mumbled reply from below Sparky's bunk. "I'm already awake."

It took Sparky a moment a moment to gather all the facts. Hot Shot seemed to be up early and ComCom was the one still in bed. Sparky tilted his head to the side. There was only one possible solution.

"AHH!" Sparky yelled and started waving around wildly. "ComCom and Hot Shot have switched bodies!" That one actually got Hot Shot to blink not only once, but twice. "Huh?" "Sparky must be sleep-deprived..." ComCom's voice mumbled. "Maybe he was so anxious about the report cards we're getting today that he couldn't sleep."

Sparky jumped down from his bunk. "I don't care about my grades as long as I pass my classes", he said, trying to gather his dignity. "I would think you'd be the one to be anxious, ComCom." Pink optics narrowed at Sparky. "Why do you think I'm tired like this?" the blue bot hissed.

"Come on guys", Hot Shot said with a chuckle as he walked to the door. "We wouldn't want to be put in detention on the last day, now would we?" "Definitely not!" Sparky cheered and rushed past Hot Shot. ComCom followed the duo out much more slowly. It was not like they were late yet.

2.

The trio walked out of the school building together. Hot Shot could not help but laugh when the warm sunlight hit his face. "I don't know about you guys but I'm in such a good mood that not even a failed course could ruin my mood", he said brightly. Sparky agreed instantly but ComCom said it would have to be a near failure fot him not to break down.

Hot Shot fished his report card from the envelope with a quick movement. He folded the paper open to see his grades. Sparky's head was right next to his, trying to see what it said on the paper. "Let's see..." the black bot started. "Automatic data processing: 303, history: 303, combat skills: 404... Hey! I guess the teacher doesn't hate you, after all." "Thanks, Sparky", Hot Shot muttered. "Your shot on psychology is very much appreciated."

"What other grades are there?" ComCom piped in. "You stopped in between." Sparky peered at Hot Shot's paper again. "Languages: 606, no suprise there...mechanics: 505, math: 303, repairs: 303. I don't get it. How can you be so good in mechanics and still suck in repairs?" "Repairs are a much more delicate form of machinery studies than mechanics", ComCom explained. "And we both know Hot Shot isn't all that patient." "Stop analyzing things through my grades!"

Hot Shot grabbed Sparky's report paper. "Let's see what we have here, shall we?" "Yeah!" ComCom cheered. "Let's, let's!" Hot Shot flipped the paper open. "Automatic data processing: 505, history: 303, combat skills: 404, laguages: 303, mechanics: 404, math: 404, repairs: 404. I have to say I'm impressed."

Sparky snached the paper back. "Well, I'm known as mr. Average among the teachers", he said. "It's not every day I see grades that are this balanced", ComCom commented. "Hot Shot's grades go up and down like a roller coaster." "Just like his personality." "I told you to stop that!"

Hot Shot's comment was ignored, however, when ComCom offered Sparky his report card. "Will you read them for me?" he asked. "I'm too nervous to do it myself." Sparky took the paper an folded it open. "Sure thing, ComCom", he said.

"Ok..." Sparky started as he skanned the lines one the paper. "Automatic data processing: 505, history: 505, combat skills: 202..." ComCom flinched when he heard the last one. "Don't worry", Sparky assured him. "I'm certain that it's the only class you did bad in." Hot Shot was certain that Sparky was right. ComCom was not likely to get bad grades in the less-physical subjects.

Sparky was already reading the next grades. "Languages: 404, mechanics: 606, math: 505, repairs: 505. See, what did I tell you?" Sparky handed the report card back to ComCom. "My grades may be balanced but yours are top-class."

ComCom blushed at Sparky's words. "Thanks", he said quietly. It was very unusal of Sparky to give ComCom credit for his grades. But after the two had become real friends they had started to undertand eachother's needs and interests. ComCom understood that Sparky was not irresponsible just because he liked to joke around and Sparky realized that ComCom's self-esteem needed a little push every now and then.

When Hot Shot and his friends parted ways, Hot Shot felt a strange warmth inside him. He felt like nothing could go wrong that day, like there was still something great to come. That was when Hot Shot noticed the transformer by the gates. A transformer in blue and red armor, a transformer with golden optics.

"Hi, Gold", Hot Shot said as he walked to the older bot. Gold locked his bright optics with Hot Shot's own. "Hello, Hot Shot", he replied. "I haven't seen you in ages", the young bot commented. "I've been busy... So, did everything work out between your friends?" Hot Shot smiled brightly. "Everything is so much better now!" he cheered. "And I didn't do a thing!" "I'm glad."

Gold attention was suddenly turned to the paper in Hot Shot's hand. "Is that your report card?" he asked. "Yeah, do you want to see it?" A large hand extended towards Hot Shot. "I would be delighted." Hot Shot gave his report card to Gold.

There was a moment of silence as Gold went through the paper. "You should work more on history and ADP. It only acquires a little focus to advance on those subjects", the older bot finally said. "You're not going to comment on the difference between my repairs and mechanics grades?" Hot Shot asked. "No", Gold said with a chuckle. "There is a difference between those two subjects. Mechanics is a subject that determines improvising, whereas repairs acquires you to remember the exact action you should perform."

Gold handed Hot Shot back his report card and Hot Shot put it in his bag. "You really know about these things", the boy commented. "Are you a teacher?" Gold chuckled again. "No, I'm not a teacher", he said.

"What brought you here today anyway?" Hot Shot asked. "Do you have a meeting with the principal or something?" Gold shook his head. "I came here in hopes of running into someone", he replied. "Oh, who?" Gold's optics twinkled in a way that made Hot Shot sure the older transformer was grinning behind his faceplate. "Let's just say I already ran into him", he said. "...ok."

With that Gold patted Hot Shot on top of his head, winked and walked off. Hot Shot stayed in place, watching after him. "See you again, Gold!" he shouted out right before the older bot disappeared behind a corner. A blue hand waved at him quickly before disappearing.

_**To be continued...**_


	17. Third Act

Author's Notes: Sorry about not updating in a while. I've had a bit of a writer's block and it decided to come to an end in the middle of a school exam week. This lead to another week of postponing the writing of this chapter. I hope the latest chapter is to your liking, even though it's about four hundred words shorter than the previous ones.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 17**

**Third Act**

Hot Shot felt ridiculous as he walked through the gates of Glismax academy once again. Sure, it was the first day of school but it was not like he had not done this before. There was no need to feel as anxious as he did at the moment.

A familiar violet form caught Hot Shot's attention when he was trying to locate ComCom and Sparky. He made his way to the femme bot, wondering why she was looking even more lost than she usually did.

"Alarie?" Hot Shot questioned when he got to his classmate. Yellow optics locked with his own as Alarie stuttered: "Oh! H-hi, Hot Shot..."

Hot Shot looked at the bag Alarie was hugging to her chest like it was her lifeline. He then glanced down at the two bags lying at the girl's feet. He looked back to Alarie's face.

"What's with the extra bags?" he asked, scraching the back of his head. Alarie's cheeks took a red color as she replied: "They're StarHeart and Dorona's."

Hot Shot looked around the school yard before asking: "Where are they exactly?" Alarie pointed to a large group of students of different ages that seemed to all be observing something closely. Hot Shot wondered at the sight.

"So..." he started. "What's up over there?" Alarie also glanced at the sea of transformers.

"Some big shot army commander is visiting our school", she explained. "All the boys are completely psyched and the girls just want a reason to squeal."

Hot Shot tapped at his nose with his index finger before guessing: "A fangirl complex?"

Alarie giggled at the term he had decided on. Between the laughter and heavy breathing she managed to say: "More like...the-there's no one to...admire. It's not li-like our...planet...is known for music or any o-other...form...of art."

Hot Shot nodded his head, deciding that it made sense. After all, transformers did, contrary to common belief, understand art and the accomplishments one could make on the area. They just we not very good at making those accomplishments. Such things as creativity came from the spark, and tranformers were not used on the matters of the spark.

"I'm still curious, though", Hot Shot said in a thoughtful tone. "Even though there's a bunch of screaming girls there I would still like to see who it is that's gotten so much attention."

Hot Shot turned to Alarie and asked: "You wanna come?"

The girl shook her head, replying: "I promised to watch after StarHeart and Dorona's bags. I can't carry them all and I can't just leave them here."

"Did they ask you to watch after them?" Hot Shot asked curiously.

Alarie looked at her with wide optics at his question. She asked a question of her own: "Why are you interested in such a thing?"

"I figured they might just have told you to watch their bags", Hot Shot said with a shrug. "Personally, I wouldn't bother I wasn't asked properly."

Alarie blushed bright red when she muttered: "I wouldn't say they **ordered** me to do it. They more like **assumed** I would do it..."

"Meaning they told you to do it", Hot Shot said as he made a move to go see who the commotion was dedicated to. He stopped in mid-step, though.

"Why do you put up with them?" he asked when he turned back to Alarie. "Because something tells me it wasn't the first time they've done something like this." Hot Shot saw the girl's sad look at his words. He guessed what was coming even before Alarie opened her mouth to speak.

"I've been their friend for two years now", the violet-colored bot said. "I can't just abandon that, I have no one else."

Hot Shot scrached the back of his head, muttering: "They aren't what I like to consider friends."

"They're the best I have."

"Well, all I know is that neither Sparky nor ComCom would ever threat me like those two treat you." Hot Shot's voice was firm and certain as he said this. Alarie turned her optics away from his face, clearly unable to meet his gaze.

"It's only for this year", Alarie said weakly. "After we move to the upper grades and become senior students I can say 'good bye' to the way I'm now. Then I'll be strong enough to stand on my own."

Hot Shot turned his head back to the large group of students when Alarie moved her head to look up, back at him. He did not want Alarie to see the disbelieving look he had on his face.

To be completely honest, Hot Shot thought Alarie's theory was full of scrap. The only thing waiting could do to her problem was make it worse. He had waited years before telling anyone about Cold Gaze, and it had been and accident that his friends found out. Now he was not sure if anyone could do anything to his problem, or even if there ever was a chance of getting rid of the presense that still haunted in the back of his mind.

Cold Gaze had not made any attempts to come out since the first time on second grade. Hot Shot felt like he was carrying a ticking time bomb right next to his spark. A time bomb he was not sure of how it would work. He really hoped that he would never find out what Cold Gaze would do once he got out.

"Sometimes..." Hot Shot started carefully. "Doing nothing can be worse than doing the wrong thing."

Alarie did not reply. Hot Shot simply sighed and picked up one of the bags lying on the ground.

"Come on", he said, throwing the bag over his left shoulder. "I want to see who big shot is but I can't just abandon a lady in her time of need."

Alarie smiled at Hot Shot warmly before picking up the other bag.

"I wouldn't stick with them if I had other friends", she explained when the two of them started walking. "It's just that...I've never done anything to show people that I don't agree with the things they do. Everyone thinks I'm like them."

"That does sound a bit problematic", Hot Shot said as he started jumping up and down, trying to see over the heads of the students that were taller than him.

"Damn!" he hissed. "I'm too short to see a thing!" He turned to Alarie to see the girl just stand still in place, not even trying to see what was happening. It might have had something to do with the fact that she was even shorter than Hot Shot. Actually, Alarie was extremely small in size. She was smaller than Hot Shot in every way. Hot Shot could have easily lifted the girl up.

"Hey..." Hot Shot started. Alarie looked up at him. Hot Shot grinned before asking: "Wanna see?" The girl gave a shy nod and Hot Shot turned his back to her and knelt down, offering her to climb on. Carefully Alarie wrapped her arms around Hot Shot's neck and grabbed the boy bot's hips with her thighs.

"Are you on?" Hot Shot asked. At Alarie's nod he stood up to allow the girl to look past the crowd.

"So, who's all this hustle about?" Hot Shot questioned after a moment. Alarie let out a soft gasp before starting to rant: "Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh..."

"What, what, what?" Hot Shot asked impatiently. "Who is it?"

"It's the supreme commander himself!" Alarie cheered in an awed voice. "It's Optimus Prime in the steel!"

Suddenly Hot Shot really regretted asking his question. Actually, he really regretted offering to lift the girl up in the first place. Now Alarie was seeing his greatest hero while he was stuck where he was like the little boy scout High Voltage had called him on various occasions.

Hot Shot forced the bitter feeling of disappointment down. He had never gotten to see Optimus Prime but he had heard from his friends that he seemed to radiate authority. That was the reason Hot Shot never looked for pictures of the commander. It just would not be the same and Hot Shot would only be more disappointed.

"Hot Shot?" Alarie's voice called softly. Hot Shot only hummed in reply, signaling the other that he was listening. The girl had probably wondered why he had not commented on the exclamation of before.

"You seemed to zone off", Alarie pointed out. "Is something the matter?" The girl bot sounded sincerely concerned.

"I'm fine", Hot Shot half-lied. "Is he anything like the stories they tell about him?" He could not help but be curious, even though he was still bitter.

"He's really impressive, if that's what you mean", Alarie said. "He sort of fills the area around him."

Hot Shot nodded his head in reply, once again stuck in his own thoughts. People would have thought him silly if they found out about his almost fan boyish behaviour. Not because he looked up to Optimus Prime, almost everyone did that. It would have been because he refused to find out what the transformer looked like. Everyone else could probably recognize Optimus anywhere but Hot Shot could walk past him the school hall and think he was a teacher. It sort of made it all the more exciting, knowing that anyone could be the greatest Autobot ever.

"Now he's walking inside the school building", Alarie's voice narrated from just a bit over Hot Shot's head. She probably thought Hot Shot had been listening the whole time even though the yellow bot really started paying attention only when she finished: "Now he's gone."

The crowd began to dissolve and Hot Shot let Alarie down from his back. Together they walked back to the spot Alarie had been waiting for StarHeart and Dorona earlier. Hot Shot placed the bag he had been carrying back to the violet femme bot's feet, saying: "I'll see you around then."

"You're leaving?" Alarie asked, disappointment evident in her voice. Hot Shot nodded, saying: "StarHeart and me aren't exactly on good terms, to be honest. And besides, I have to keep a look out for my friends."

Alarie let out a heavy sigh and muttered softly: "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for this, anyway."

"Hey, it was ok", Hot Shot said, giving the girl a playful wink. He then waved slightly with his fingers, saying: "Buhbye", before walking off.

"Bye!" Alarie called after him. Hot Shot was not paying much attention anymore, though. His eyes had noticed a familiar figure walking through the school gates. The slight slump in the walk was easy to recognize, the figure walked like he was hoping to not be noticed. Hot Shot grinned before starting to make his way to the new arrival.

"Hey! ComCom!" he called, waving excitedly. The figure responded to his wave with one of his own. Hot Shot quickly made his way to his friend.

"Hi, Hot Shot", ComCom greeted the yellow bot once they were face to face.

"Hi, ComCom", Hot Shot replied with a grin. "How was your vacation?"

"Nothing special, really... How about yours? Did you do anything exciting?"

"Nah, not really."

"What was with the crowd?" ComCom asked, peering over Hot Shot's shoulder. "It must have been something to cause such an uproar."

"Optimus Prime is visiting our school", Hot Shot muttered in a bitter tone, not turning around to look at the people who had gotten to see the supreme commander.

"I take it you missed him again?" ComCom asked when he looked back at Hot Shot's face. Hot Shot only huffed in reply, growling: "What was your first clue?"

"Well, you look like someone stole your lunch, and it's not lunchtime yet."

Hot Shot looked at ComCom's playful smile but did not join him. This time his friend could not make him smile, no matter how contagious the other's good mood usually was. Hot Shot doubted even Sparky could get him to smile at the moment.

"Don't be like that", ComCom said as his smile turned apologetic. "There are plenty of pictures of him in many books, you don't have to torture yourself like this."

"It won't be the same!" Hot Shot whined. "I want to see **him**, not some stupid picture."

ComCom tapped his chin as he pondered on Hot Shot's words.

"You're a contradiction, you know that?" he finally said.

"Bwuh?" Hot Shot replied intelligently.

"You say you want to see your hero more than anything, and yet you still refuse to see any of the holographic videos Sparky has", ComCom spoke in his lecture voice. Hot Shot realized that ComCom was once again analyzing him.

"Don't..." he started but was cut off by ComCom continuing: "I think you're worried that the commander isn't like all the images you have imagined of him. You're afraid of bursting your own bubble."

Hot Shot glared at ComCom's teacher-look and growled: "Are you done yet?"

"Yes, I believe I am", ComCom said in a pleased voice.

"Good", Hot Shot replied before turning around and walking off. He did not appreciate ComCom's attempts to analyze him at any chance he got. It was disturbing to have someone else tell things about yourself that you should know the best yourself.

Hot Shot had actually considered watching Sparky's holograms a couple of times. The opportunity to see what his hero looked like was tempting. But then Hot Shot had thought that Optimus Prime could not possibly have the right air around him in a recorded image. Only the real thing could be impressive enough.

And maybe Hot Shot was only slightly afraid to be disappointed.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: I couldn't help but wonder what will happen once I'm finished with this story. Not that this is near its end yet. There's six school years in total, and I'm even planning on going a bit past that. I just wonder how many of you would be ready to read the seguel I'm planning for this...


	18. Comfort In Disappointment

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 18**

**Comfort In Disappointment**

"ComCom!"

ComCom turned around at the shout of his name and saw Sparky making his way to him with his sister Sparkly.

"Hi, Sparky", ComCom greeted his friend. "Hello, Sparkly."

"Yeah, hi", Sparkly muttered off-handedly before walking off to look for her own friends. Sparky sniggered at ComCom's stunned look and slapped him on the shoulder playfully.

"Have ya seen Hot Shot, shrimp?" the black and white transformer asked with a wide grin.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me a shrimp?" ComCom yelled at the taller bod, jerking his shoulder away from the reach of more slaps from Sparky. Not that they hurt but ComCom just wanted to show the other that he was not pleased with him at the moment.

"And on the topic of Hot Shot, I believe he is moping somewhere", ComCom commented. Sparky scrached the back of his neck and had a curious look in his eyes when he asked: "Why would he do something like that?"

"Optimus Prime was here on the school yard a moment ago", ComCom explained. "Hot Shot didn't get to see him."

"He seems to have the worst luck", Sparky said thoughtfully. "Kinda unfair if you ask me."

"But there isn't really anything we can do about it", ComCom said with a sigh. "I just wish he didn't get so moody every time something like this happens."

When Sparky suddenly sniggered ComCom shot him a hard enough glare to meal armor.

"Mind telling me what's so funny?" he asked in a low hiss. Sparky let out a low chuckle before replying: "I just realized something. Hot Shot could walk right into Optimus Prime in the middle of a school hallway and not realize who it is."

ComCom stared at Sparky blankly before saying: "That. Is. **Not**. Funny..."

Sparky started sniggering again, breathing out between chuckles: "Yes...it...is."

There was a heavy sigh from ComCom before the blue bot admitted: "Ironic, yes. But not funny."

1.

Hot Shot sat behind the school building, glaring at the empty space before him. Why was it him who never got to see Optimus Prime in the steel? Everyone else would have been satisfied with a picture so why did they get to see the real thing?

With a sigh Hot Shot leaned his head against the wall behind him. Was it because he wanted too much? If he had been satisfied with less, maybe then he would get to see more.

Hot Shot had not expected anyone to come to the other side of the building. That was why was so suprised when he saw a shadow being cast right over him. He tilted his head upwards to see a familiar faceplate and golden optics.

"Gold?" Hot Shot questioned from the figure.

"Hi, Hot Shot", Gold replied. "I wasn't expecting to run into you here."

Hot Shot gave the older transformer a weak smile before saying: "I could say the same about you. At that matter, I wasn't expecting to run into you at all." He tilted his head to the side slightly before asking: "Will you sit next to me?"

Gold did not reply, he simply sat down next to Hot Shot against the wall. Hot Shot was still a lot smaller than the other transformer but was already half the other's size.

"What brings you here?" Gold asked after a moment had passed. "I came here for some peace and quiet."

"I just needed some time to myself", Hot Shot replied. "I didn't want to infect my friends with my bad mood."

"What's got you so down?" Gold's voice reflected true concern and Hot Shot felt embarrased when he realized how childish the reason behind his disappointment was.

"I just got disappointed, that's all", Hot Shot muttered off-handedly. When Gold did not comment Hot Shot realized that he was expected to tell the whole thing. With a heavy sigh Hot Shot continued: "I've always thought the stories about Optimus Prime facinating. He's my hero. He was at our school a few moments ago. I wanted to see him so bad, but I couldn't."

"You've never even seen a picture of the commander."

"No", Hot Shot replied before he realized that it had not been a question. "But it's ok."

"How so?" Gold asked, sounding interested. Hot Shot turned to look into the golden optics once more before smiling widely.

"You're here", Hot Shot replied simply. He leaned against the larger transformer's side and, when the other had not protested to the gesture, closed his optics.

"You might not be a supreme commander", Hot Shot said with a content smile. "But you're kind and always make me feel better and you're here. That makes you better than any war hero."

Gold was silent for a long while when Hot Shot simply enjoyed the almost fatherly presense of the other transformer. Finally Gold said in a slightly weakened voice: "Thank you, Hot Shot. Your words mean a lot to me."

Hot Shot thought the other's tone slightly odd but let it slide, since he was suddenly feeling extremely tired.

"It's ok..." Hot hot mumbled before yawning. "Wake me up before the bell rings, ok?"

There was a warm chuckle from Gold before the larger bot replied: "You can count on me."

2.

"Here we are!" Sparky cheered when he entered the room he had shared with his friends for two grades. "Home sweet home!"

ComCom let out an amused chuckle as he followed the taller bot into the room. He watched Sparky throw his bag into a corner and asked: "You consider this your home?"

"Well, second home sweet home?" Sparky suggested with a grin. "We **have** spent quite the bit of time in this room."

"That is true", ComCom admitted as he hung his bag from one of the hooks on the wall. "I wonder where Hot Shot wandered to?" he then said.

Sparky shrugged, replying: "Who knows? I'm sure he'll appear here sooner or later."

"I just hope he ate something..." ComCom said worriedly. "You know what he's like when he's low on energy."

"ComCom: the great mother unit", Sparky commented with a grin.

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you want to wake up with your circuits in their right places next morning." ComCom's voice was full of malice Sparky had not heard in a long while. He was very proud about that.

"I didn't mean it to be an insult, you know", the black bot said just in case.

"Then do tell me..." ComCom drawled. "What **did** you mean with it?"

Sparky glanced away, only barely avoiding ComCom's piercing glare. He muttered slowly under his breath, damning himself in the deep depths of a black hole before replying: "I just think you have a lot of spark..."

When Sparky dared to look up at his friend, he saw a slight red color on the usually controlled face. Yet more proof to back Sparky's words up.

"Emotions are supposed to be organics' forte", Sparky continued quickly. "I mean, I've met a lot of transformers, inside and outside of school, yet not many have been like you. It weirds me out sometimes."

ComCom's face turned crimson, the change brought by rage.

"You think I'm weird?" the blue transformer almost bellowed.

"Sometimes!" Sparky defended. "I didn't say all the time! Or even completely! Just a bit. Just a teeny bit."

"I'll show you teeny..." ComCom started right before the door to their room opened. Hot Shot walked inside with a happy whistle, some snacks gathered in his arms. The yellow bot paused in mid-step to watch his friends more closely, immediately noticing the tense atmosphere.

"Hi", Hot Shot said off-handedly before taking a bite of an energon bar. "I see you started you annual 'school beginning brawl'. You could have been curteus enough to wait for me to come referee, though." Half of his words were muffled by the chewing he did as he spoke.

"Please, Hot Shot", ComCom said with a groan. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"But I'm hungry and I need to down this stuff before I fall down off-line again."

"You do have a habit of crashing on the first day", Sparky muttered. "What's up with that?"

"Relief over-ride?" ComCom suggested and turned his attention back to Hot Shot, who was currently gulping down liquidified energon. "Are you really going to eat all that?"

"That was the plan", Hot Shot said with a happy smile. "Why do you ask?" As if realizing something he offered ComCom a snack, asking: "You want some?"

ComCom sighed before replying: "No thanks. I'd rather **not** have nightmares the night before we start our studies."

"There you go again", Sparky groaned. "It's always about school work with you. Haven't you ever heard of such a thing as living?"

"We have plenty of time to 'live', as you put it, when we're out of school", ComCom said firmly. "Unlike organics, we aren't in a hurry. There's no need for that."

"I don't want to wait", Sparky argued. "If you haven't noticed, we have to spend millenias on studying. It gets tiring after a while."

"You are so **simple**", ComCom hissed, like he was spitting out a horrible insult. "We have only one chance to get our studies right and you're going to waste it."

"Take it easy, ComCom", Hot Shot said, gulping down the last bit of his energon. "It's not like Sparky has any chances to waste his school years. Unless you forgot, we aren't allowed out of the school premises durin the semesters."

Sparky and ComCom watched Hot Shot throw all the snack wrappers to the waste bin. After it was done Hot Shot turned his attention back to his friends, continuing: "And it's only on fourth year when our grades start to really matter. On the lower grades it's only about passing the courses."

Hot Shot did not appear to have anything more to say since he made his way to his bunk for his own annual tradition. ComCom was speechless for once and Sparky commented: "Since when have you been so smart?"

When there was no answer the black bot poked his friend's side. Hot Shot still did not react.

"I don't think I have ever met anyone else who can fall asleep that fast", Sparky muttered.

"Maybe he's faking it?" ComCom said quietly.

"Nah, I don't think he is", Sparky said and poked Hot Shot again. "He hates to be poked, remember?"

"Instant shut-off program?" ComCom said with curiously widened optics. "Interesting..."

"Analyze him later. I'm going to follow his example", Sparky said playfully and climbed to his own bunk. "Good night."

"Fine", ComCom said with a sigh. "I concede." He crawled into his own recharge bed that was positioned underneath Sparky's own. Sparky heard a faint good night from below himself.

"Good night, ComCom and Sparky."

Sparky heard ComCom splutter and he himself grinned when he heard Hot Shot turn on his bunk. Hot Shot was strange, very strange. But all the more amusing to hang around with.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: I noticed an interesting thing while writing this. Whenever I'm writing ComCom or Hot Shot I aim to leave out all the 'street talk'-like pharases, such like 'yo' and 'wanna'. But when I'm writing Sparky I switch between 'punkish' talk and 'regular' speech. Whenever Sparky's really excited or caught in a moment, his grammar will slip.


	19. Serious Studies

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 19**

**Serious Studies**

The sound of the alarm clock beeping was the least welcome sound Hot Shot had heard in a while. He lifted his hand to crush the wreched thing, only hit ontop an empty table when someone snatched the machine to safety on the last second.

Hot Shot opened one of his optics to peer at ComCom, who was currently giving him a scolding look.

"I can't believe you were trying to break the alarm clock!" the blue bot sneered while hanging the clock on the wall. "This was the last time I leave it on the desk."

"That thing is evil", was Hot Shot's defence. "That sound is the bell of the God of Destruction."

A loud laughter broke from a bit higher up than ComCom's voice had come. Then the sound of an alarmed shout came, followed by a painful crash.

"Mind telling us what was **that** funny, you clown?" ComCom growled, this time directing his glare at Sparky who was currently lying in a heap on the floor.

"Hot Shot believes in Unicron!" More snickers followed.

"I'll let you know that Unicron **is** a part of our history studies", ComCom said. "Many scientist have been able to find ancient recordings that could prove that something like the Unicron myth has existed at some point."

"Not to sound like I'm picking a fight or something, ComCom..." Sparky started. "But there's also a lot of proof that Unicron is nothing more than a relic of Primnalia. Why else would they have taught about it in primary studies?"

"I never said I believe in Unicron", Hot Shot put in. "I meant that if such a thing as Unicron exists then that alarm clock is its right hand man."

ComCom stared at Hot Shot in a funny manner for a moment but before he could say anything Sparky exclaimed: "Now I get it!"

Both Hot Shot and ComCom turned their attention to Sparky who continued: "You don't want to go listen to headmaster Datamist's lecture!"

ComCom gave the black bot an incredulous look.

"That's just ridiculous", he said. "Why wouldn't Hot Shot want to go listen to the lecture?"

"Because the headmaster is boooooring. With a capital 'B'", Sparky insisted. "Isn't that right, Hot Shot?"

"I'd rather pull my main chord out and save him the trouble of killing me with his talking", Hot Shot muttered more to himself than his friends. Sparky turned to ComCom and gave him a victorious smirk and said: "See?"

"I don't understand", ComCom said. "The headmaster only speaks clear facts... well, maybe he tends to repeat himself... quite the bit I might add... Oh."

"Exactly", Sparky and Hot Shot at the same time, Sparky with a wide grin and Hot Shot with a scowl.

"Nothing can be done about it", ComCom said firmly. "Even if the lecture is longer than necessary it will contain information that is vital to our future studies."

"I hate it when you talk like that", Sparky said with distaste.

"Not time for games, Sparky. We have to go. That goes for you too, Hot Shot, so don't even think about going back to sleep."

"I was simply retrieving my bag."

"I'm not falling for that one. We don't need bags today so get here."

Hot Shot gave his friend a mock salute, saying: "As you command, sir."

Sparky also followed the example and added: "Anything you say, goes ma'am."

The glare the black bot got was frightening enough to startle even Hot Shot aswell, even though it was not directed at him.

"Very funny", ComCom hissed. His voice was pure ice as the duo rushed past him and out of the room. Neither one of them wanted to be told to hurry up by ComCom. They had never had any idea that the blue bot could be so frightening.

1.

As the trio walked out of the auditorium each of the boys had a different look on their faces. ComCom was beaming happily, Sparky looked displeased and Hot Shot was deep in thought.

"What was it that you said about studies, Hot Shot?" Sparky asked with a frown. "Something about them becoming serious next year?"

"Well, technically he was correct", ComCom put in. "This doesn't really affect our studies that much."

"But carreer presentations?" Sparky said incredulously. "How are we supposed to know what professions we want to learn about? I mean, it's going to be a while before we choose what subjects we want to study."

"It's really not that far away", ComCom said sternly. "And the school visits are supposed to help us with our upcoming choices." ComCom sighed. "Headmaster Datamist went through all of this but you were too busy sleeping through over half of his speech."

"I wasn't the only one", Sparky defended. "I only followed Hot Shot's lead."

ComCom turned his scolding gaze to Hot Shot.

"You didn't!" he gasped at his yellow friend. Hot Shot still did not speak.

"His optics were online", Sparky admitted. "But he didn't answer me when I spoke to him."

The look on ComCom's face changed into one of worry.

"Is everything alright, Hot Shot?"

Hot Shot's optics locked with ComCom's and the taller bot gave a weak smile.

"I'm fine, ComCom", he said. "I just wasn't completely awake yet."

ComCom continued to look doubtful but let the matter slide. He turned back to Sparky, listing to him all the different options on which school trips they could participate. Hot Shot's attention was far away from the discussion, though. Durin Datamist's lecture Hot Shot had felt his insides turn freezing cold.

He had felt Cold Gaze's presense again.

2.

Hot Shot was only slightly disappointed that the headmaster's lecture had been in place of astronomy. It was a new subject so Hot Shot was kind of curious but then again, it **was** studying.

ComCom and Sparky had run off somewhere earlier and Hot Shot was currently making his way to the chemistry class alone. The chemistry studies had also started this year so Hot Shot did not really know what he was supposed to expect.

A familiar form that was standing further down the hall caught Hot Shot's attention. A wide smile came to his face as he ran to the taller transformer.

"Gold!" he called as he ran. The blue head snapped up and golden optics turned to him. Feeling extremely happy all of a sudden Hot Shot jumped at the older bot, wrapping his arms around his middle.

"Hello, Hot Shot", Gold said, his voice bubbling with laughter. "I'm glad that you're so happy to see me."

Hot Shot quickly pulled back from Gold, feeling slightly embarrased. He even felt his cheeks starting to burn.

"Sorry", he mumbled apologetically. "I don't know what came over me."

"That's quite alright", Gold's voice assured him and Hot Shot tilted his head to look at the warm optics of the autobot. Suddenly a pain shot through his head.

"Agh!" Hot Shot gasped out in pain and fell to the floor on his knees.

"Hot Shot?" Gold's voice asked worriedly. "Is something wrong?" A large hand was placed on his shoulder. This time the pain went right through Hot Shot's spark.

_'You aren't wanted here...Leave us...'_

Hot Shot cried out as his whole body felt like it was freezing over.

_'He's mine. You aren't taking him from me. I won't let you!'_

The cold sensation that had taken over Hot Shot's body intensified, making Hot Shot feel like his body was burning from the ice running inside his body. A few painful tears escaped from his optics as he closed them tightly.

_'I'll even kill him if that is what it takes.'_

Hot Shot felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his frame before his world turned black and everything was forgotten.

And then he remembered.

_"Hot Shot?" a voice questioned. Hot Shot brought his large optics up at the voice he loved more than any other. A large transformer walked into the room, warm optics immediately seeking out the yellow bot._

_"There you are", an amused voice said and a smile spread on a sharp face. The transformer walked over to Hot Shot, wrapping his arms around the incredibly small frame._

_"You know I love you, don't you?" the deep voice questioned quietly. "All of you?"_

_"Of course, daddy!" Hot Shot replied with an even wider smile. "And I love you too!"_

_The arms around Hot Shot tightened as the voice choked out. "I don't want to lose any of you."_

_Hot Shot's smile disappeared. Why was dad sad? He should not be sad. He should smile and laugh and have fun._

_Quietly Hot Shot nuzzled the wide chin as he asked: "Why are you sad?"_

_"I'm not sad", his father replied gently. "I'm just worried, that's all." The arms let go of Hot Shot. "I'm off now."_

_"Where are you going, daddy?" Hot Shot asked carefully._

_"To work."_

_"Will you be long?"_

_"I..." A broken look came to the loved face. "I really don't know, Hot Shot." With that the older transformer turned to walk away._

_"Daddy!" Hot Shot called desperately. "Come back home!" For some reason he felt like he should say that. It had the desired effect as his father smiled again._

_"I promise, Hot Shot, that I'll never leave you alone. I love you too much to do that."_

_Hot Shot nodded enthuastically as he said: "You love us all."_

_"Right. I love each and every one of you."_

_"Me", Hot Shot started. "And mom."_

_Once again his father nodded._

_"And Cold Gaze."_

_Something came across his father's face but he never noticed it. Carefully the tall bot nodded._

_"I said all of you, didn't I?"_

_"Daddy?"_

_"Yes, Hot Shot?"_

_"Why is Cold Gaze so... cold?"_

_"I don't know, Hot Shot. I really don't know."_

Hot Shot felt his conciousness slowly return only to be greeted by the same pain that had taken his mind away from it in the first place. He cringed in agony and let out a pained scream, hoping that it would chase the pain away. He felt just like the child from his most recent dream.

"DADDY!"

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Apparently I put some new own terms into this chapter. For future references: Primnalia is the religion on Cybertron that teaches about the mythical Ancient Ones and the Grand Beings that are said to have brought all transformers to existence: Primus and Unicron. Primnalia is taught in primary studies with basic skills, like reading and the simplest ADP.

Woot! I actually got this thing written. And hopefully I'll get chapter 20 out soon. It's going to be a special treat to all of my readers!


	20. Breathe Life Back To Me

Author's Notes: Here it is! The chapter I've been almost harassed about, I finally put it up! And Kaekokat, sorry about almost killing you in anticipation.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 20**

**Breath Life Back To Me**

When Hot Shot came back to reality again he was already expecting the immenent wave of pain to strike. When it never came Hot Shot dared to blink his optics open.

The first thing he noticed was that he was in the school nurse's office and the second thing he noticed was that his helmet was off.

"Wah!" Hot Shot shouted out, jumping up from the bed. But a sudden wave of dizziness caused him to lose his balance and collapsed right into someone's arms. Drowzily Hot Shot brought his optics up to golden ones.

"Gold?" Hot Shot questioned weakly. At the affirming nod he asked: "Where's my helmet?"

"It's on the side table", Gold said, pointing to the right. "Right there."

"Could you get it for me?" Hot Shot asked. "I...feel odd without it."

Gold did not question the comment, simply helped Hot Shot to sit on the bunk as he walked to the other side of the room. He then returned with Hot Shot's yellow helmet.

Hot Shot ran a nervous hand through his short artificial hair. Neither Sparky nor ComCom knew he had any. Well, no one but the nurses at the orphanage had known. Until then, that was. Now Gold also knew.

"Why do you try to hide your hair?" Gold asked as he handed the helmet to Hot Shot. He took a few silver strands between his fingers and twirled them a bit before continuing: "It's in a really good shape."

"Because hair is girly", Hot Shot replied, whishing that Gold would let go of the strands so that he could hide them again.

"I have hair."

Hot Shot blinked once. And then twice.

"What?"

"I said that I have hair aswell."

"Really?"

"Really."

Hot Shot went quiet for a long while, considering this. He could actually imagine Gold's hair now that he thought about it.

"Deep metallic blue", the yellow bot said confidently. Gold was silent for a moment before speaking quietly: "How did you know?"

Hot Shot only shrugged before replying: "Just a hunch, actually."

"Hot Shot..." Gold's voice had a strange urgent undertone as he spoke. "Did you have a dream while you were unconcious?"

Hot Shot nodded after a moment of thought.

"Yeah", he replied. "It was about my father...But it felt familiar somehow, like a forgotten memory that I remembered again."

Optimus nodded, saying: "Alright then. You suddenly screamed really loud. I thought you were having a nightmare."

"No", Hot Shot said as he shook his head. "The dream was really pleasant. I think I woke up after that, but only for a short moment. I remember screaming from the pain."

"You aren't in pain anymore, are you?" Gold asked worriedly. "You don't look like you're hurting."

"I'm fine", Hot Shot assured the larger transformer. "I'm perfectly fine now."

"Have you ever had this happen to you before?" Gold asked and Hot Shot could not help but laugh as he replied: "I thought the nurse was supposed to ask all those questions?"

"Have you?" The firm and demanding tone Gold used held such authority Hot Shot felt all of his humor disappear immediately.

"No", he replied meekly. "I've never fainted from sudden waves of pain before. Nor have I ever had these kinds of pains before."

"I hope you aren't lying", Gold said softly. "If this becomes repeative it's sign of something being very wrong."

'I already know what caused it', Hot Shot thought, wanting to tell Gold just that. But he did not want to let Gold know about Cold Gaze. He had just started to make progress on finding out who the other personality was. He did not want to be dragged to some kind of a shrink where he would be agreed to be insane and then locked away inside a cold institute.

"Optimus!" The sudden shout brought both transformers' attention to the door. A white autobot had appeared there. He had a red helmet and a golden face plate. A pair of wings sprouted from his back and his golden optics reminded Hot Shot of Gold's ones, only these were a lot more playful.

"There you are, Optimus!" the flier exclaimed as he made his way to Gold. "Why did you sneak off like that? That's **my** trademark!"

"Optimus?" Hot Shot questioned from Gold. "Your name is Optimus?"

The newcomer seemed to notice Hot Shot just then. He looked at Hot Shot with surprise clear in his optics and Hot Shot thought he saw recognition aswell.

"What is it, Jetfire?" Optimus? spoke sternly. "I'm a bit busy here."

"Optimus?" Hot Shot questioned again.

"There's huge mess at the office", Jetfire said. "Embassador Glunier arrived three cycles early and he's demanding to meet you right away."

"Optimus?" Hot Shot choked out.

"He can wait", Optimus said. "I expect him to follow protocol as much as everyone else. Tell him to come back in three cycles."

"That's going to be easier said than done", Jetfire huffed. "The guy's two times my size."

"I'm sure you can handle it", Optimus said, a smile in his voice. Hot Shot whimpered, finally bringing both pairs of golden optics to himself.

"Could you leave us now, Jetfire?" Optimus asked. It was not an order. It was a request. Hot Shot noticed this immediately. He also realized that Jetfire did not put up a fight as he walked out of the room.

"Optimus...Prime?" Hot Shot managed to pipe out, noticing that his voice had disappeared somewhere durin the conversation between the two autobots.

"Yes", Optimus admitted. He reached out and gently wrapped Hot Shot into his arms. "Optimus Prime, the supreme commander of the autobot army. I hope you aren't too disappointed." At that Optimus leaned back to look into Hot Shot's bright blue optics that were shimmering with tears that threatened to fall.

Hot Shot was truly frightened. The way he had acted, and in the company of the supreme commander no less. He was so embarrased and ashamed.

"Hot Shot?" The careful call of his name brought Hot Shot back to the present moment. He locked gazes with Optimus.

"I'm sorry", Optimus said quietly. "I really am. What I did was unforgivable and I hope I haven't crushed your ideal of me completely."

Hot Shot blinked. And then he stared. Quietly he croaked out: "You apologise?"

"Yes", Optimus said. "Even though I am Prime, it does not give me the right to lead you on like I did. I was just so tired of everyone gawking at me and expecting me to do everything. You were different. You were so independent and wanted to do everything yourself. Whenever I could do something for you I felt immensely happy."

Hot Shot carefully listened to each of Optimus' words, absorbing everything he could. And he understood just what Optimus meant and what he had been after.

"Optimus sir", Hot Shot started. That was when he saw incredible pain in Optimus' optics and immediately corrected himself: "Gold, can I ask you something?"

Optimus nodded his head, the pain in his optics gone for now.

"Do you have any family?"

Optimus' optics turned sad at the question and Hot Shot knew the answer. He gave the other bot a sad smile and said: "Neither do I. It was taken from me."

"I never really even had a chance at a family", Optimus said and Hot Shot noticed that the arms around him tightened their hold on him. A small broken laugh escaped from Optimus' mouth as he continued: "You figured it out pretty fast. I aren't usually this transparent, though. I haven't been able to get a good recharge in weeks."

"I understand", Hot Shot said quietly and leaned his head against Optimus' chestplate. He ran a hand down the surface of the helmet that was sitting on his lap. After a short while he pulled himself out of the embrace and Optimus did not resist.

Hot Shot placed his helmet back on his head, his mask and protection from the world. He then jumped off the bunk and locked optics with Optimus once more.

"I'm sorry", the smaller transformer said. When Optimus' optics widened questionably he continued: "I can't be the son you want." That said Hot Shot tore his gaze away from the older bot and ran out as fast as he could.

1.

"I wonder where Hot Shot is?" ComCom muttered Sparky as they walked out of chemistry class. "It's not like him to skip class."

"I'm sure he's fine", Sparky assured his smaller companion. "This is Hot Shot we're talking about. He's invincible."

ComCom smiled at Sparky brightly before saying: "I guess so. I just can't help but worry."

"About Cold Gaze?"

ComCom's and Sparky's optics locked, pink with orange. Slowly ComCom whispered: "Yes. He's been quiet for a long time. A too long time."

Sparky's steps faltered a bit but he kept on walking down the corridor. It was true that the one thing that could really heckle Hot Shot was Cold Gaze. Sparky and ComCom would both have wanted to help him more that anything but Hot Shot refused to talk about the problem and they did not want to force their friend to talk.

Carefully and gently Sparky laid a hand on ComCom's shoulder. Pink optics flashed in surprise and Sparky gave an awkward smile to them. Slowly a smile came to ComCom's lips.

'Thank you', the blue bot mouthed without noice. Sparky only nodded, feeling his cheeks burn ever so slightly.

2.

Hot Shot curled up in the dark corner, sobbing as quietly as possible. He did not want anyone to find him in the fathest corner of the Glimax Academy library. The least-used section almost never had lights on so it was the ideal place for the small bot's complete break down.

_'You made the right choice',_ Cold Gaze mumbled softly. Hot Shot shook his head in protest.

"No I didn't", he whimpered. Just because Cold Gaze said it was alright he immediately knew that the truth was the opposite. He trusted Cold Gaze as far as he could throw him and since Cold Gaze was bodiless he could not be thrown.

_"It's going to be alright",_ Cold Gaze continued ever so softly. _"I'm going to make everything right again."_

Hot Shot felt his oil run cold when he realized that Cold Gaze's voice was not as bodiless as it had been only moments ago. His whole body went stiff when he felt a cold breath brush against his cheek.

_"Are you afraid of me, Hot Shot?"_ Cold Gaze asked ever so gently. _"You shouldn't be. After all, I'm here for you alone."_ At that moment Hot Shot felt a pair of lips against his cheek when he received the ghost of a kiss there. Another cold breath followed, brushing Hot Shot's cheek and neck.

_"Hot Shot..."_ Cold Gaze whispered in a begging tone. _"Damah..."_ A pair of arms came around Hot Shot's vaist, pulling him against a body that Hot Shot swore was not there.

"You aren't real", Hot Shot whispered brokenly. "You aren't real, you aren't real..." Tears began streaming down Hot Shot's cheeks as he tried to find salvation in that one mantra. He knew it to be useless, however, when he felt the cold breath again. This time the sensation was straight at his face, over his lips.

"Please don't", Hot Shot begged. "Please don't do this..."

_"Do what, damah?"_ Cold Gaze questioned, the power in his tone indicating that the other knew exactly who was in charge for the moment. Even without a body Cold Gaze was currently pulling the strings.

Hot Shot felt his spark almost implode when Cold Gaze nuzzled his chin. The fear was eating away at Hot Shot's clarity of mind whereas the gentle gesture disarmed him further. Why was Cold Gaze like this? Why was he so cold at one moment and so loving at another? And how did he manage to be both at the same time?

"Cold Gaze..." Hot Shot breathed, wrapping his arms around the invisible frame that he could still feel like it was a real one. "Older brother..."

_**To be continued...**_

Author's Notes: So here! Chapter 20 in many ways the chapter people have been waiting for! For one, Optimus was finally revealed and for two, Cold Gaze is back in business and more has been revealed of him.

Who thinks this story should get horror as a secondary genre? I mean, I was personally really creeped out when writing the last scene. But then again, drama might just be more suitable. I'd like to hear your opinions on this, please?


	21. Dead Outside

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 21**

**Dead Outside**

"I don't understand it", ComCom said thoughtfully. "Hot Shot actually missed lunch! Where could he possibly be?"

"It must have been something important", Sparky said in a manner that was meant to sound reassuring. "He's been waiting for weapon industries classes to start for a long time. He wouldn't have skipped them without a good reason."

"Yeah", ComCom agreed even though he still sounded a bit unsure. "It's not like everytime he goes missing something bad happens."

That was when they saw a familiar yellow form making its way through a corridor. With a relieved smile ComCom started waving his arms.

"We're here, Hot Shot!"

When the yellow bot came to them, ComCom immediately noticed that something was wrong. Hot Shot's optics seemed a lot darker than usual.

"Hot Shot..?"

Sparky did not seem to notice the tone ComCom used as he slapped the second tallest transformer on his arm.

"Where the heck were you?" he asked in an irritated tone. "You worried poor ComCom here!"

"Sorry..." The reply was quiet and slightly monotone, as if Hot Shot had suddenly forgotten how to talk and was trying to learn it again. ComCom's optics suddenly flashed in fear when he realized what was going on.

"Sparky!" the shortest bot shouted out and grabbed the black transformer by the arm. He quickly pulled the other back next to him, away from Hot Shot.

"What are you doing, ComCom?" Sparky asked, clearly confused. "Surely you aren't that angry about him missing a few of his classes?"

"Sparky!" ComCom breathed out hurriedly, the other finally noticing the franctic state he was in and quieting down. With a desperate shout the blue transformer bellowed: "That's not Hot Shot!"

Sparky locked his optics with the dark blue ones and finally noticed that he did not recognize them. With a startled gasp he questioned: "W-who..?"

"Cold Gaze", the not-Hot Shot spoke, finally seeming to get the hang of it. "I am Hot Shot's older brother, pleasure to meet you." The yellow bot actually tilted his head forward politely when he said this.

"H-how?" Sparky stuttered. "When?"

"What have you done with Hot Shot?" ComCom asked heatedly, squeezing Sparky's arm tightly to gain courage. "Last time I checked that body was his!"

"I didn't do anything!" Cold Gaze hissed, clearly angered by ComCom's accusations. "I'm simply pulling the strings for a while."

"Let him go!" Sparky commaded, seemingly getting his composure back. "Release Hot Shot's body!"

"I can't!" Cold Gaze said angrily. "If I release my control of this body it will shut down completely." A smug smirk appeared on the grey face, the final sign for the two transformers of the fact that Hot Shot was not in any control of his body. "You'll just have to bear me until my brother comes back."

When he had finished speaking Cold Gaze made his way past the other two, starting to head for the cafeteria.

"There still some time left of our lunch break", he said, sounding almost happy. "I suggest we go get this body some fuel."

For a moment ComCom thought he could fool himself to think this was Hot Shot when he watched the yellow bot make his way to the cafeteria enthuastically. But when he saw the smirk the other had on his face when he caught up with him, he realized that this entity could never be Hot Shot and should not be thought of as him.

1.

Optimus tried to look for Hot Shot in vain. He could not find the smaller bot anywhere.

"Optimus?" Jetfire's voice called suddenly and Optimus turned to face his second-in-command. With a heavy sigh Optimus uttered: "Maybe I can see to that Glunier matter, after all."

Jetfire did not ask anything as he followed Optimus out of the school building. When the silnce drew itself out Jetfire finally coughed and asked: "That was the kid you told me about, right? Hot Shot?"

Optimus simply nodded in reply, not wanting to say anything.

"You really think he could become an autobot?" Jetfire asked incredulously. "To me he seemed a bit too timid. He was frightened like a small child."

"He is a small child", Optimus spoke out, wanting to defend the student. "And he isn't like that usually. Something was bothering him."

"Look, Optimus..." Jetfire started. Optimus knew from the tone of voice the flyer used that he was not going to like what ever it was that was coming.

"Forget about it. If he enters the academy, then you can start pulling this defender routine of yours. If he dosen't want to become an autobot then you will have just wasted your efforts."

Optimus glanced once at his companion and the look in his optics silenced the other immediately. With yet another sigh Optimus directed his thoughts to the political problem he was going to face when he got back to the headquarters. Embassador Glunier was not known for peaceful solutions.

He was known for knocking walls over.

2.

Cold Gaze stomped inside the room, feeling really exhausted. It was to be expected, really, since he had not had a body of his own in a long time. He turned around to shoot a sideways glance at his brother's friends.

"I have to go meet up with Sparkly and ComCom needs to call his mother", Sparky said cautiously. "Stay here and don't leave for anything."

There was a firm glare in Cold Gaze's optics when he listened to the black bot's orders. With a huff he spoke: "You can't tell me what to do."

"Please, Cold Gaze", ComCom pleaded quietly. "We really don't have time for this nonesense. Do this one thing for us and I'm sure even Hot Shot will appreciate it."

Cold Gaze's glare intensified as he growled: "What makes you think I would care about what my brother thought? So far I've only been causing trouble for him and you two."

"Because of that", ComCom said with a slight smile. "Surely you want to make up for the trouble? Hot Shot is your only brother, after all. You must care for him."

"Just leave", Cold Gaze snapped at the blue transformer infront of him. "Get to those matters that are so important. I'll just _keep myself company_." The last part of his sentence was hissed out with pure malice and hinted on the dark-opticed bot's ability to do just that. Nervously the other two transformers left.

With a sigh Cold Gaze sat down on the floor. He pulled his legs close to his body in a meditative position and shut his optics. Carefully at first he began to calling out with his mind, trying to contact the deepest reaches of transformer conciousness.

'Hot Shot?' Cold Gaze thought carefully. 'Can you hear me? Answer me, please.'

_'C-Cold Gaze..?'_

Cold Gaze could not stop the smile from grazing his features. Or more likely, his brother's features. With relief evident in his tone he sent another thought to his little brother: 'You've had your little break. It's time to come back now.'

Slowly Cold Gaze Hot Shot's presence grow stronger. The hesitant growth of the other conciousness indicated Hot Shot's reluctance to return to the material world. Cold Gaze knew from personal experience that one could sent many millenia in the unknown parts of the undeterminable mind of a transformer.

The return of Hot Shot's persona was a startling experience. For a moment the two minds clashed and melted together in an attempt to change the dominant mind of the frame. Cold Gaze felt Hot Shot's much more gentler personality caress against his own cold and unforgiving self. For the briefest moments the two became one before seperating again with Hot Shot in control of the body again.

As soon as the shift was complete Cold Gaze found himself missing the physical body he had posessed only moments ago. But more than that he missed the feeling of becoming one with his brother. They had fit, like two pieces of the same machinery. That short moment he had been the same as Hot Shot and Hot Shot had been the same as him. They had balanced eachother out.

For the first time in his life, Cold Gaze had felt truly complete.

3.

Hot Shot was brought out of a state that resembled sleep by the sound of a voice calling his name. Just when he was sure he had imagined it, he heard it again: _'Can you hear me? Answer me, please.'_

That was when Hot Shot realized that he recognized the voice. Carefully he tried calling out: "C-Cold Gaze?"

There was relief in his brother's voice when he replied: _'You've had your little break. It's time to come back now.'_

Reluctantly Hot Shot left his conciousness slip into full awareness. At the same time he felt Cold Gaze's presence grow nearer, like he was walking towards the other.

That was when the strange sensation came. The shift from bodiless to being inside a metallic frame was noticeable, for one thing he immediately felt heavier. And he also felt a strange melding between his and his brother's minds durin the shift in who controlled the frame.

For the shortest of moments Hot Shot felt Cold Gaze's hard conciousness absorb his own persona. Hot Shot thought that he was going to get lost in the void that was his brother's personality. But when he stayed intact he realized that they filled out each other, like two pieces of a puzzle.

When the short fusion had passed Hot Shot was feeling strangely numbed. He had no idea if he was still the same person. But then he felt Cold Gaze's presence lingering right beside his own and his mind was filled with surprising clarity.

'What was that?' he asked his brother quietly.

_'We shifted',_ was Cold Gaze's reply. _'That's really the only way I can describe it.'_

Suddenly Hot Shot felt a change in the atmosphere of the room. He immediately recognized it as the change that happened every time Cold Gaze came completely outside his mind. He knew he was right when he felt invisible fingers brush against his cheek.

_"Are you alright now?"_ Cold Gaze asked, concerned. Another forehead was pressed against Hot Shot's own and the physical bot let out a heavy sigh before answering: "As I alright as I can be, I guess." A small smile came to the yellow bot's lips. "You know, for a moment I was really going to accept his offer."

_"Why didn't you?"_

"It just didn't feel right, I guess", Hot Shot said almost off-handedly. Except that the matter was extremely important to him. "I don't want a substitute to my dead father. Until I can get over the shady memories I have I can't possibly get a new one."

Invisible arms closed around Hot Shot's frame, holding him in a comforting embrace.

"Why do you always do this?" Hot Shot asked curiously. "Why do you always touch me and be so close to me?"

Hot Shot's breath caught in his throat when he heard Cold Gaze's tone as the other replied: _"I can't see you."_ The voice was so lonely and broken.

"What do you mean?" Hot Shot asked. "How can you not see me?"

_"I can't see you clearly",_ Cold Gaze specified. _"Probably because I don't really have optics. What I can see of you is shapes and shades, nothing clear."_

"Well", Hot Shot said with a sigh. "I can't see you either. I can't see you at all. It must be because you don't have a physical form."

_"Your friend could see me."_ Cold Gaze muttered thoughtfully. _"Long ago, when I first appeared to him."_

"We'll have to find out what was so special about that time", Hot Shot decided. There was an agreeing feeling from Cold Gaze, the other deciding not to speak this time.

That was when someone knocked on the door. Surprised, Hot Shot turned around and walked over to it. Neither Sparky nor ComCom needed to knock to get inside so he had no idea who was behind the door.

_"Don't open it!"_ Cold Gaze's voice shouted out suddenly. _"I feel a decepticon! Leave the door locked!"_

It was already too late, though. The door was already sliding open, revealing a large dark form. The flame symbols on the armor had Hot Shot gasping, the last sound he let out before an electric rod was shoved through his chest armor.

The shock stopped all of Hot Shot's systems from operating, leaving his with no chance to escape. Still, one single thought rang out through Hot Shot's mind as he sank to the floor.

'Crushingor...is a decepticon?'

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Just in case people have forgotten, Crushingor is the combat skills teacher.


	22. Kidnapped

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 22**

**Kidnapped**

When Hot Shot finally came to, the first thing he noticed was Cold Gaze's worried voice calling his name over and over again.

"Cold Gaze..." Hot Shot mumbled unable to send the message by thought. His head was in too much of a mess at the moment. If only he could remember why. With a groan of pain Hot Shot finished: "Stop screaming...I'm fine..." He tried to roll away from lying face down but a wave of pain stopped him. "Okay, I'm not fine but I **am** alive. It wouldn't hurt this much if I wasn't."

_'I swear, I'm going to kill Crushingor as soon as I get my hands on him!'_ Cold Gaze's voice came from the back of Hot Shot's mind. Apparently the other conciousness was feeling faint aswell, otherwise he would have been talking to Hot Shot in person.

"You don't have hands", was all Hot Shot managed to get out. It was not the smartest of responses but he was feeling a bit too light headed to come up with anything better for the time being.

There was a feeling of indignance that was not Hot Shot's own before Cold Gaze replied: _'Fine. As soon as I get __**your**__ hands on him he's dead metal.'_

"Wait a minute", Hot Shot gasped suddenly. "What's this talk about Crushingor? He's my teacher."

_'A teacher that turned out to be an undercover decepticon. He hit you with something that sent out electric impulses and shut your systems down for a short time.'_

"How long was I out?" Hot Shot asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. His internal clock needed to be reset before he could tell the time again and he would need to know the time to do that.

_'I honestly can't say',_ Cold Gaze's voice replied. _'I was trapped inside your vacant mind the whole time you were unconcious. It could have been a few hours or many cycles for all I know.'_

Hot Shot let out a frustrated groan, wishing more than anything that he would have been able to turn to lie on his back. He really hated having his face against the rough stone floor.

Hot Shot stopped to register that thought. There was no stone surface on the inhabited layers of Cybertron. That meant that Crushingor had taken him deep underground.

"What does Crushingor want with me?" Hot Shot asked, not really expecting Cold Gaze to know the answer. He just needed something to fill the silence that had fallen in the darkness that surrounded him.

_'I really have no idea what a decepticon could possibly hope to accomplish by kidnapping an academy student',_ Cold Gaze admitted weakly. Then he continued in a fading voice: _'But I really need to rest now... I'm not strong enough to stay awake for such a long time yet.'_

Hot Shot nodded his head even thought Cold Gaze could not see it. The other could feel his agreement, thought, and his presence faded away.

With his brother's voice gone Hot Shot felt alone. Not completely, he never felt completely alone. But more alone than he had ever felt before. He could feel Cold Gaze, but it was more than apparent that the other could not feel any of his emotions or thoughts at the moment. Hot Shot believed that this was Cold Gaze's version of recharge.

That was when Hot Shot heard the sound of nearing footsteps. He glanced to his side, forcing back a groan of pain, just in time to see Crushingor's large frame walk to the plae light of the electric torch placed near Hot Shot's currently immobile frame.

"Oh, you're awake", Crushingor spoke out and Hot Shot was startled by how much the decepticon sounded like the teacher he remembered. Now that he thought about it he realized it to be silly but he had expected for Crushingor to sound different now that he revealed his true identity. It was just that Hot Shot had never thought that a decepticon would talk in such a pleasant manner.

"I am terribly sorry about this, Hot Shot", Crushingor said as he pulled out a thick cord. He pulled Hot Shot into a somewhat sitting position and began wrapping the yellow bot with the metallic cord. Hot Shot's whole frame was still hurting so he had to really concentrate to hear what Crushingor was saying.

"You were a bit difficult to deal with but you were a good student", Crushingor spoke in his even tones. "I actually liked my job as a teacher but the order came from up. I am terribly sorry about this but if you really want to blame someone, then blame Megatron and Optimus Prime."

"What are you talking about?" Hot Shot managed to get out even if it did not contain the demanding tone he had tried to get to it. Instead, his question sounded confused and lost.

"Megatron may be keeping a low profile but that's only because he's planning a grand attack", Crushingor explained, probably dying to share his information with anyone. "But Prime is a problem. The decepticons need a way to distract him in order to take over Cybertron in one clean sweep."

"What does this have to do with me?" Hot Shot questioned. "I'm just a school kid."

"That's why this is also Prime's fault", Crushingor said as he finished tying Hot Shot up. "Optimus Prime doesn't have weaknesses, or so everyone thought. Until you came along, that is."

"What?" Hot Shot asked disbelievingly. "Are you implying that **I'm** Optimus' weakness?"

"You really are smarter than people give you credit for", Crushingor said while petting the top of Hot Shot's head. Then he pulled the boy's helmet off.

"Hey!" Hot Shot exclaimed. "You can't take that!"

"But I need it to convince Prime that I really do have you", Crushingor said in a very self-satisfied manner. "You see, if he knows we have his little protegé there is no way he can focus on the attack Megatron is going to launch in three cycles. He's going to be extremely pleased with me once he hears what I've done." With that the flamed transformer stood up and started walking away.

"Wait!" Hot Shot called after him but he did not react. "Stop! You can't do this! You're a teacher!" When it was apparent that the decepticon would not be swayed Hot Shot gave up with a heavy sigh. If the decepticons managed to take over Cybertron because of him then he would never be able to live with himself.

1.

"Optimus sir", the sudden call for his name brought Optimus' head up from the report he had been reading through. Jetfire also turned around to glance at the nameless autobot standing in the doorway of the office.

"There is a package for you, sir", the autobot said and lifted up the box he was carrying in his arms. "There is no return adress but it's been tested clean of bombs or traps. There is something metallic inside, though."

"Bring it here", Optimus said and the autobot did as was ordered. As soon as the box had been placed on the desk Jetfire opened it. Optimus did not see inside but Jetfire pulled out a computer disc. Optimus immediately recognized the symbol on it.

"It's from the decepticons", Optimus said and Jetfire nodded.

"I suggest we get rid of it", the flyer said seriously. "It's probably just a computer virus."

Optimus simply nodded and peered into the box. It was too large to contain just a disc. There had to be something else aswell.

The autobot commander froze when he saw the other object in the box. He quickly turned to Jetfire who was attempting to break the disc in half with his hands.

"Stop!" Optimus shouted out in an almost panicy voice. Jetfire immediately stopped his ministrations and turned to his leader. Confusion was evident in his voice when he asked: "Why did you stop me?"

Optimus reached into the box and pulled the other object out. Weakly he said: "Because this came with it." Optimus showed Jetfire the yellow helmet. It was a rather small helmet, possibly a child's one.

"A helmet?" Jetfire questioned incredulously. "Why would they send that to us?"

"Don't you recognize it?" Optimus asked as he turned the helmet in his hands. He locked optics with Jetfire as he finished: "It belongs to Hot Shot."

2.

_"Daddy?" Hot Shot asked quietly when he stepped into the large study. The person he had been looking for glanced up from the computer screen and shot him a brilliant smile._

_"Hello, Hot Shot", the yellow bot's father said gently. "What is it?"_

_"Can we go outside today?" Hot Shot asked. "Cold Gaze wants to show me something."_

_"And what might that something be?"_

_"I can't tell!" Hot Shot said while shaking his head furiously. "It's a secret!"_

_"You and Cold Gaze seem to share a lot of secrets", the adult transformer said with a slight smile. Hot Shot only nodded exitedly in response._

_"So can we go?"_

_"Alright. But don't go too far. I wouldn't want anything happening to either of you."_

_"Okay, thanks daddy!" With that Hot Shot rushed off._

_3._

_"Cold Gaze!" Hot Shot called out. It was just his luck to lose his brother in the woods they had went to investigate. And now Hot Shot had no idea where his brother was or where he was supposed to go. And he had no idea what his brother was going to show him._

_A sudden sound of footsteps brought Hot Shot around quickly. He came face to face with a young winged transformer that was over two times his size but no where near as big as his father._

_"Hello!" Hot Shot said with an innocent wave of his hand._

_"What are you doing here?" the older transformer asked in a raspy voice. "You shouldn't be here all alone."_

_"I lost my brother", Hot Shot explained to the stranger. "And I don't know which way leads home. Will you help me?"_

_The older transformer had a slightly cold feel about him so Hot Shot was not sure if he was going to get help or not. A relieved smile came to his face when he saw the other nod his head._

_"Sure thing, kid. I'll lead you to the nearest buildings. Someone there will surely know where you belong."_

_"My name is Hot Shot", Hot Shot said happily as he rushed to walk with the larger bot. The older transformer was quiet for a while. Finally he muttered: "Starscream."_

_"It's nice to meet you, Starscream", Hot Shot said happily. Then he noticed a strange symbol on the bot's wing. It was dark violet in color. Curiousity getting the best of him Hot Shot could not help but ask: "What is that symbol?"_

_The transformer glanced briefly at his own wing before replying: "How about I tell you that when you're a bit older?"_

_Hot Shot did not see the harm in that and nodded his head. "Okay."_

_The two did not talk at all on the way back to the Clairos sector._

_"There's Cold Gaze!" Hot Shot exclaimed excitedly and pointed at him brother. "And daddy's with him!"_

_"Daddy?" Starscream questioned as he eyed the tall transformer that was with Cold Gaze._

_"They must be really worried about me", Hot Shot said sadly. "Come on, Starscream! I really want to introduce you to daddy!"_

_"I'd prefer if you didn't", Starscream said in response. "I'm in a bit of a hurry." And with that the flyer disappeared back into the forest they had come from. Hot Shot did not think much of the other's reluctance to meet his family and started running towards the house he recognized easily now._

_"Cold Gaze! Daddy! I'm home!"_

_"Hot Shot!"_

_Hot Shot barely had time to register what was happening when he was already crushed against his father's chest._

_"Thank Primus you're alright!" the large transformer said weakly. "I don't know what I would have done if anything happened to you!"_

_"It's okay, daddy", Hot Shot said with a smile as he hugged his father back. "This really nice person helped me home!"_

_"But there's been decepticons sighted in that forest! What if they had found you?"_

_"Decepticons?" Hot Shot asked innocently. "What are those?"_

_Hot Shot's curious optics met with his father's worried ones. Carefully the older transformer said: "They're bad people, Hot Shot. Never forget that."_

4.

Hot Shot rolled on the ground in his sleep. There was something about that dream that was very familiar. Was it another forgotten memory?

Crushingor glanced up from his laptop at the sound of his prisoner speaking in his sleep. He looked at the small bot just in time to hear him mouth quetly: "Decepticons...bad people..."

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: A Starscream cameo! Sorry, I just couldn't resist!


	23. Feel My Pain

Author's Notes: I just thought that I should warn you all: because of the extreme violence contained in this chapter, I'm going to be putting the story rating a bit higher. So, read at your own risk. As I already said: violence ahead.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 23**

**Feel My Pain**

"Optimus!" Jetfire called while trying to keep up with his leader's quick stride. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going after Hot Shot", Optimus said firmly. "According to that disc Hot Shot is underground, near the Sanctuary. I'm going to go save him from those decepticons."

"It' obviously a trap!" Jetfire argued. "Come on Optimus! You're not supposed to lose your cool like this!"

"Even if it is a trap I'm not backing down", Optimus said. "They have no right to harm an innocent child!"

Jetfire reached out and grabbed Optimus' arm. Forcefully he exclaimed: "Hot Shot's most likely dead by now!"

"There is a small chance that he is still alive", Optimus said quietly and somehow he had more power behind his words that the shouting Jetfire. "And that's a chance I'm willing to take."

Jetfire resisted Optimus' attempt to pull his arm free. His optics locked with Optimus' own as hissed out: "I'm not letting you go, Optimus. This is stupid and you know it."

"Of course I know", Optimus responded, his tone suddenly rising. "But I have to at least try. I won't be the reason of his death!"

"You're trying to atone for what happened to your family!" Jetfire accused heatedly. "Believe me, Optimus! There was nothing you could do, just like there's nothing you can do now!"

"No!" Optimus bellowed, finally managing to yank his arm free from Jetfire's grip. "This time I can atleast try! I won't lose another person dear to me!"

Jetfire jumped closer to his commander and grabbed his shoulders in a strong grip. Giving the other bot a rough shake he shouted out: "He's not your son, Optimus! Your son is dead!"

Realizing too late that he might have went too far, Jetfire felt his optics widen. Optimus' golden optics had turned into pure ice as the commander pulled himself out of his grasp. Jetfire was not resisting anymore. He stood perfectly still when Optimus turned around and marched off.

Even though he could not see it anymore, Optimus' glare still chilled Jetfire to the core.

1.

"We're near the Sanctuary, right?" Hot Shot asked suddenly. Crushingor brought his attention to the yellow bot and shrugged.

"Maybe."

"We are. I know it."

"Look, kid, there's no way you could know something like that. Just sit still like a good hostage."

Hot Shot huffed indignantly at Crushingor as he glanced into a dark cavern. He was fairly certain that path led to the legendary shrine, Sactuary, that was rumoured to be the home of Primus' essence.

"The Creator Primus, you are the beginning. From you we all are born. The Protector Primus, you are life. From you we all seek comfort. The Father Primus, you work through all of us. To you we all return in the end."

Crushingor looked up from his laptop and Hot Shot noticed that his optics were wide with fear. Carefully the decepticon choked out: "Where did you learn that?"

Hot Shot shrugged his shoulders in indifference while replying: "I don't know. It just came to my mind all of a sudden. Why do you ask?"

Crushingor shook his head and let out a nervous laugh before muttering: "That's the Prayer of Primus. It's said to be able to summon Primus."

At those words Hot Shot glanced around the cavern, noticing Crushingor do the same.

"I don't see anything", Hot Shot said finally. "It's just a silly bedtime story, just like the God of Destruction. You're probably pretty embarrassed now, a grown decepticon freaking out because of something like that."

"Shut up, you brat!" Crushingor yelled, suddenly really angry. "I told you to be quiet! Now either you pipe down or I'll make you!"

Hot Shot snapped his mouth shut, deciding that there was no point in getting himself mauled by a decepticon that he made mad because he could not keep quiet. It was most certainly not the time for snarky remarks.

2.

A great deal of time had passed when Hot Shot heard someone approach the cavern he and Crushingor were in. A tough-looking decepticon walked inside, covered in bulky dark red armor. The synthetic skin of his face was marred by various scars.

"About time you showed up", Crushingor grolwed at the newcomer. He got up from his seat and walked out of the cavern. "Make sure the brat doesn't escape."

The red decepticon said nothing as Crushingor left, bringing his cold pale blue optics to rest on Hot Shot's face. The yellow bot was already missing Crushingor. This new guy seemed to be a lot nastier than the black-armored spy.

"So...what's your name?" Hot Shot asked with a grin, hoping that anything would break the tense silence. "Or will I just have to call you Mr Guard?"

The decepticon grinned a cold smile, one that chilled Hot Shot more than anything else ever before. The child transformer really did not like this new guard.

"The name's Meltdown", the red bot said as he crouched down in front of Hot Shot. "And I'll have you know that I live up to my name."

"What?" Hot Shot asked with a slight laugh. "They put a computer geek hacker to watch me? I know I'm a child an all but this in degrading."

The next thing Hot Shot noticed was that he was lying on the floor with the side of his unprotected head hurting. The decepticon had actually hit him!

"I won't listen to any more of that crap from you kid, you got that?" Meltdown spat at Hot Shot. "Crushingor may insist on keeping you alive since you're still a child and all but I think you'd be just as much use to us dead."

Hot Shot felt really scared when the meaning behind the words sank in. Why could he never keep his mouth shut? He had such a nasty habit of saying the worst possible things in the worst kinds of situations.

Meltdown laughed loudly at the boy lying on the ground.

"There!" the decepticon exclaimed. "I knew you could be taught how to behave." The decepticon patted the top of Hot Shot's head. "All it took was a bit of motivation." The decepticon paused in his laughter to grin sinisterly. "You know something about your hero? He's pathetic. He's currently running here, right into our trap to save your useless life."

Hot Shot glared at Meltdown but the decepticon ignored him completely and continued: "He's going to step right into our trap and you know what we're going to do when he does?" The red bot did not give Hot Shot a chance to answer as he continued: "We're going to kill him. Slow and painful."

Unable to listen to the decepticon rant any more Hot Shot did the one thing he knew would shut the older bot up. He spat a splat of oil right at his face. Grinning at the incredulous look he got at that Hot Shot hissed: "You're nothing but pathetic cowards! There's no way you'll ever beat Optimus Prime! He going to waste you all, trap or not!"

Meltdown's eyes flashed white in rage as the decpeticon grabbed Hot Shot by his neck and slammed the boy against a wall.

"You little piece of waste!" the red bot screamed in a high-pitched voice. "I'm going to kill you! I really am!" With that Meltdown reached out and ripped Hot Shot's chest armor open. Hot Shot gasped in surprise but fortunately there was not any nerve points near the spark-shooting remains of his armor.

Energon saliva was running down Meltdown's chin as the decepticon's white eyes locked on Hot Shot's now-frightened face. One of the red transformers large hands pressed against Hot Shot's vulnerable chest.

"No..." the decepticon muttered in a low voice. "I don't think I'll kill you. Not yet, at least..."

Before Hot Shot could react to the words in any way Meltdown continued: "I'm going to rip you apart slowly and enjoy every moment of it." A sadistic grin came to the scarred face, twisting the face in a horrible manner. "And I think I'll record it. I'll show it to Prime before I kill him as well."

Hot Shot did not say anything. He was too frightened to speak. He had never met anyone like the deception in front of him. He doubted that even Megatron could be more horrible than Meltdown. A soft whimper escaped from the yellow bot's mouth.

"That's it!" Meltdown said with a bright laugh as he set Crushingor's laptop next to them, turning the video program on. "Fear me, boy! And show it!" The decepticon crawled over to the boy before finishing: "Now, as they say: 'Scream to the camera'!" With that he tore the locks on Hot Shot's outer spark box open. The pain that shot through Hot Shot at that was enough to cause a yelp escape from the boy's mouth.

Hot energon tears spilled from Hot Shot's optics when Meltdown proceeded to force the spark box open, leaving Hot Shot's inner box vulnerable and bleeding.

Meltdown leaned in an licked some of the energon running down Hot Shot's spark box off. The sensitive nerves of the inner box protested against the feeling of the slick tongue running up the surface damp from energon. A sob escaped from Hot Shot.

When Meltdown paused in his ministrations Hot Shot's optics blinked online, only to shut down again. The yellow bot did not want to see his own energon running down the decepticon's chin.

A chuckle escaped from Meltdown before the red bot hissed: "Cry for me a bit, child. Scream and call for Prime to come rescue you. He won't get here in time. He'll never be able to save you."

That was when Hot Shot felt Meltdown press his fingers to his spark box's entry point. The yellow bot's optics blinked online in fear. The box entrance was the point in every transformer's frame that had the most sensitive nerves. It would have to be, since that was the spot that would be the first to inform a transformer if there was something wrong with the spark box or spark. It was also the channel used in spark transportation from one box to another. If Meltdown did something to it...

Before Hot Shot could finish that thought something shot through the spark canal. Hot Shot felt oil begin to seep out of the point Meltdown had thrust the spike into. Where the decepticon had gotten a metal spike was a question Hot Shot was too distracted to think about. He was too occupied by the feeling of oil escaping his body as his whole frame started to burn. The yellow bot felt like he was being ripped apart, and all because of a simple injury to his inner spark box. The pain that surged through Hot Shot was enough to cause the boy to hope, pray, that he could just die.

Meltdown pulled the spike out only to thrust it inside again, with more force and creating more damage than before. Insane laughter burst out from the decepticon's mouth.

Hot Shot threw his head back, opened his mouth and screamed.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: I came up with the Prayer of Primus. I took me about five minutes to make it. It will hold minor importance in the next chapter. And the thing with the spark box entry point, I figured that since transformers have no vital organs, there had to be some spot underneath their armor that would cause incredible pain once injured. And if you were wondering about Meltdown, it actually really simple: the guy's insane, end of story.


	24. Primus' Blessing

Author's Notes: Warning: there's extreme violence in this chapter!

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 24**

**Primus' Blessing**

Optimus glanced up at the seal that blocked the way to the Sanctuary. He wondered what direction he should take in order to reach Hot Shot. There were countless caverns leading in and out of the large cave that held the entrance to Primus' domain.

Suddenly Optimus felt the slightest of jolts rush up his frame. He immediately turned his gaze to a certain cavern, somehow knowing that this one would lead him to the one he was desperately seeking. As quickly as he could Optimus rushed to the cavern and disappeared into it, not knowing anything about the trap that had been set in the cavern that was right next to the one he had chosen.

The cavern was dark but Optimus did not dare to take out any light, because that might have informed his enemy of his location. After travelling what seemed like hours in the endless darkness Optimus heard a scream.

It was unnaturally high, causing Optimus to visibly flinch in response. He wondered what in the universe could let out such a horrible sound but shook his head a he corrected his own thoughts. The thing he should have been asking himself was what in the universe could cause someone to release such a sound. Optimus did not like the possible answers to that question and rushed through the darkness towards the voice. Soon he could see light.

Optimus arrived into a small cave that looked like a room. There were some electronic equipment set around the walls but they did not hold the autobot commander's interest. His optics were first locked on the purple decepticon that had turned to look at him. The decepticon was currently kneeling on the ground.

That was when Optimus heard a faint whimper from right behind the decepticon. His gaze immediately went to the small form huddled against the back wall of the cave. There was oil and energon seeping out of the frame of the child. The important liquids were pooling around the child on the ground and there was already a large puddle there. Optimus froze in a mix of horror, sadness and pure hatred.

"Ah, it seems you have arrived Prime", the decepticon drawled, bringing Optimus' hate-filled gaze to a scarred face. "Like the little makeover I've done for your little friend here? I think it's quite appealing myself." A sadistic and crooked smirk came to the cracked lips. "You should have heard him scream."

At those words Optimus lost all sense. The only thing the autobot could see was the decepticon as his vision became framed by red. The only thing he cared about was defeating his opponent, bringing the decepticon down and making him suffer. He wanted to make the monster before him suffer like Hot Shot had suffered.

It did not matter who this decepticon was or why he had done this. Optimus did not care about those things one bit. The only thing that mattered was that the purple transformer had hurt Hot Shot, his Hot Shot. Optimus did not know anything about his opponent, besides the fact that he would not stand a chance against the commander and that he hated this sadistic excuse of a transformer with all of his spark.

Moving with speed and anger the decepticon clearly had not seen coming Optimus attacked. He rushed at the purple bot, slamming him to a nearby wall and hammering his face and chest until they were so dented that there was no way the decepticon could be recognized by anyone but a very close friend or a family member.

The decepticon had started to whine in pain, begging for the autobot to stop, to have some mercy. But Optimus did not hear his voice and even if he had he would not have understood his words, that was how far gone he was with his anger. With a yell that was a mix of rage and inner anguish Optimus grabbed the decepticon by arm and tore the limb off. Then he hit the purple bot on the head with the newly gained weapon. The decepticon fell to the floor, oil and energon pouring out of his battered frame. Satisfied with the damage he had done Optimus tossed the torn arm on top its unconscious owner.

Finally getting his senses back Optimus stared at the damage he had done with wide optics. He did not dwell on it, though, as a weak and pained whimper brought his attention back to the one he had done this all for.

Optimus knelt down in front of Hot Shot and pulled the fragile child into his arms.

"Hot Shot?" the autobot commander asked weakly in a barely audible whisper. Hot Shot's bright blue optics blinked to life in response to his voice.

"O-Opti...mus?" the yellow bot croaked out with a broken voice. Optimus almost cried visibly at the sound. How could that decepticon do such a thing?

"Yes, Hot Shot", Optimus whispered tenderly to the small form in his arms. "It's me. I've come to save you."

A weak and painful smile came to Hot Shot's lips that glistened brown from the oil that had splattered to his face from the previous torture he had gone through. In the same weak voice as before Hot Shot muttered quietly: "Then... Primus heard my prayer..." Then his optics dimmed as the child went offline.

Optimus held the small form against his chest plate tightly for a few moments, trying to gather his mind and soul back together. With a few deep breaths that he did not really need he managed to calm himself down enough to stand up with slightly shaky legs. He felt weak from the rush he had experienced earlier and also from the emotions still raging in his spark.

Without a single glance at the decepticon on the ground Optimus walked out of the cavern, his valuable burden light in his strong arms.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Yeah, I know it's short but this seemed like the right place to stop since I wanted to put this thing up as soon as possible and I did not want to waste good chapter ending material.


	25. The Healing Touch of a Father

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 25**

**The Healing Touch of a Father**

Optimus did not leave Hot Shot's side once. Even as the medics worked to repair the damage done to the child's spark box the commander was there, his optics locked on the frail form. Jetfire had tried to speak with him but after Optimus had not answered a single one of his questions the flyer had given up and left him alone. Even so, Optimus knew that Jetfire would want answers later on and that he would have to tell what had happened to the decepticon named Meltdown.

When a faint light was lit in Hot Shot's optics Optimus immediately forgot about Jetfire and his upcoming questions. He almost knocked down one of the medics in his haste to get to Hot Shot's side. His efforts were not wasted when he witnessed Hot Shot's reaction to seeing him first.

A brilliant smile spread on Hot Shot's face as his optics shined with life Optimus had feared to be forever lost. When the innocent optics shimmered with unshed tears Optimus reached out and gave the child's cheek a gentle caress with his thumb.

"O-Optimus?" Hot Shot choked out with a hoarse voice. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me", Optimus said, his spark almost bursting from joy and relief. "It's all over now. You're safe."

Hot Shot gave a grateful smile at Optimus' words before questioning: "And Meltdown?"

Optimus stiffened at the question but the groggy child lying on the bed did not notice a thing and simply continued smiling at the autobot commander. Optimus noticed this and smiled behind his faceplate, realizing that he would not hesitate to attack another Meltdown to assure that Hot Shot was safe.

"Don't worry", Optimus said to the yellow-armored bot. "He's never going to hurt you again." As Hot Shot's optics dimmed in a sleepy manner Optimus added silently to himself: "No one is going to hurt you ever again if there's anything I can do to stop it."

1.

As soon as the medics were done with their final check-ups Hot Shot hurried to ask if he could go back to school again. He had missed enough classes to have ComCom freaking out when he met the transformer in question again.

There was no apparent reason to keep the yellow bot at the clinic so he was allowed to leave. The only one who seemed to be against the idea of Hot Shot going back to school was Optimus. The autobot commander seemed to be so keen to keep Hot Shot under his watch that he was constantly coming up with new tests the medics should run in an effort to delay Hot Shot's release. But now it seemed that Optimus had finally given up, or run out of ideas, since Hot Shot was going to be returning to school that day.

While he was waiting for the escort that would take him to Glismax Academy Hot Shot absent-mindedly ran a hand down his new chest plate, his previous one having been broken beyond repair. The new armor was similar to his previous one in appearance but Hot Shot was quite certain that Optimus would not let him out of his sight without any safety precautions.

The sound of the door opening was the thing that snapped Hot Shot out of his thoughts. He lifted his head up to gaze into familiar golden optics and smiled.

"I contacted the headmaster", Optimus started. "If you're all set to go then we'd better head off."

Hot Shot blinked at the older bot confusedly before questioning: "Do you mean that you'll be taking me to school? As in personally?"

"Yes", Optimus answered simply. "I'll be taking you all the way to the classroom."

"But I thought Crushingor was caught!" Hot Shot exclaimed. "He planned the kidnapping with Meltdown. There was no one else in it."

It did not take Hot Shot long to figure out the truth when Optimus did not comment. Carefully he voiced his assumptions: "Crushingor is still out there, isn't he?

Optimus simply nodded in response before speaking: "We'll have to be extra cautious because of that. We have no idea if Crushingor's going to try the same plan twice."

"Seems rather unlikely", Hot Shot commented. "That would be pretty stupid of him..."

"That may be so", Optimus started as knelt down to Hot Shot's height. "But that still doesn't make the danger any less real." He gave the top of Hot Shot's head a friendly pat. "I won't have you hurt again."

As pleased as Hot Shot secretly was with the fond gesture it did not take his attention away from the words that Optimus had spoken. When the autobot started to pull his hand away Hot Shot quickly caught it, grasping it between his smaller hands. Quietly, almost desperately, the yellow bot spoke: "It wasn't your fault." He did not want Optimus blaming himself for what had happened.

A short chuckle escaped from Optimus and suddenly Hot Shot found himself in the autobot's arms, wrapped in a secure embrace. It made the child transformer feel safe in a way he could only remember feeling in the dreams he had with his father in them.

"You have no idea how much I'm willing to do for you", Optimus mumbled softly, but Hot Shot heard his words clearly. Not sure what to say in response the yellow bot simply leaned his head against Optimus' chest plate and nodded. He really did not know the lengths Optimus was ready to go for him. But he was starting to understand, or at least he liked to think that he was.

"I appreciate even the smallest things, you know", Hot Shot muttered almost sadly and Optimus' arms around him tightened their grip. The older bot let out an unamused chortle, which was cut off when he uttered: "It's sad, this thing we have..."

Despite the bitterness and sorrow in the situation Hot Shot smiled as he said: "At least neither one of us will be alone as long as we both have it." It was the truth, even if it held hardly any comfort.

2.

"There really isn't any need to go this far because of me", Hot Shot insisted as Optimus guided him through the hallways and down paths the yellow bot already knew. It did not seem to have much sense in it, but in all its 'out of place' -feel Hot Shot found himself somewhat appreciating the gesture. Even if he did not show it on the outside the child transformer was still quite shaken by the ordeals he had gone through not long ago, and the feel of Optimus' hand around his own was more than just slightly comforting.

"We're here", Optimus declared proudly when the two arrived in front of a classroom door. On the other side of the door was a mathematics class going on. The class Hot Shot was supposed to be in, to be precise.

Taking a deep breath Hot Shot raised his fist to knock on the door. Optimus beat him to it, however, and the metallic sound echoed in the empty hallway, bouncing off the walls without any trouble. This in turn served to remind Hot Shot of the fact that every single student of the class would be staring at him the moment he stepped in side. Hot Shot's greatest wish at that moment was for him to already be sitting at his desk, not as the centre of everyone's attention.

"I don't want to go in there", Hot Shot muttered weakly out loud. "Everyone will **stare** at me." He hoped that Optimus would understand his terror and take him back to the nice medics who poked and probed him. But all the answer Hot Shot got was a light laugh right before the door slid open.

"Too late to turn back now", Optimus said quietly and stepped into the classroom, pulling Hot Shot in with him by the hand he was still holding in his grasp. Panic was starting to rise in Hot Shot's mind but it quickly dissolved when Optimus gave the yellow bot's hand a slight squeeze. It would be alright, Hot Shot decided when all his previous worries dissipated. Optimus would make it all turn out ok.

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter but I just didn't feel right about putting the next scene right after this one. It would have ruined the atmosphere of this chapter. Anyway, lots of hugs and love for all of my wonderful readers. You guys are my motivation!


	26. Relapse

Author's Notes: Sorry about making you wait for this chapter, but I did have something good come out of this; that Megaman X and Transformers Armada crossover I mentioned a couple of chapters back has finally started off. It can be found on my story list under the name "Megaman Armada". I hope most of you find the time to at least check it out.

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 26**

**Relapse**

Sparky eyed his calculation notes, not understanding a single word of the text he had written only a week ago. The teacher droned on in the background but Sparky was not even attempting to listen. Something was missing, something so important that the black bot was completely lost without it.

Absent-mindedly Sparky allowed his gaze to drift to the empty desk in front of him. Tearing his optics away from the object Sparky glanced at ComCom, who was currently hunched in his seat next to Sparky's. The pink optics were out of focus, this fact revealed by their paler than usual shade. Sparky knew quite well what the other transformer was thinking about, since he was thinking the same thing. Or, rather, the same person.

Completely focused on his worry for his friend, Sparky did not notice when the teacher's lecture trailed off and the whole classroom fell silent. But he did notice the sudden change in ComCom's expression when the emotionless face gained a look of surprise. Curious, Sparky turned away from ComCom's face to see what he was looking at.

Sparky could not help but gasp when he saw the person he had been thinking about standing at the front of the classroom with no other than Optimus Prime standing beside him. Feeling immense relief was over him he was unable to hold back an exclamation of: "Hot Shot's back!"

Now everyone in the class was looking at the black bot. Not one to let things like that bother him Sparky kept his attention focused on his friend, seeing something the rest of the class missed.

Hot Shot's lips moved as the yellow bot had a short, whispered conversation with the autobot commander. Since the larger bot's mouth was hidden by his faceplate Sparky did not know if he answered his friend. The black bot did, however, see the autobot gently brush his fingers across Hot Shot's cheek. Not able to look away from the pure happiness that shined in Hot Shot's optics Sparky missed completely the commander's departure. By the time everyone had turned their attention back to the front, Hot Shot was already almost sitting in his seat. At this Sparky realized that he had just witnessed something that possibly no one else had ever seen.

1.

As he sat down on his seat Hot Shot was painfully aware of each and every pair of optics in the classroom turning to him. It was amazing, really, how people would not spare him a second glance unless he was in the middle of some grand event, or if he had just been a part of it. Not that Hot Shot wanted them staring. He hated being the centre of attention and, sadly, he seemed to be that quite often. Because for some strange reason anything even remotely strange seemed to happen to him and him only.

The teacher had started lecturing again, continuing the lesson like he had never been interrupted in the first place. That seemed to be a common trait of the teachers in Glismax Academy; they were capable of recovering from the greatest of surprises in record time. Well, with the school building bustling with half a thousand lively students on a daily basis the school staff had to expect the unexpected. Actually, Hot Shot would not have been surprised if it was actually mentioned in their job description.

Even with the teacher having the lesson on the move again, however, the students were not distracted. Or, actually, they **were** distracted, but from the lesson and by Hot Shot. The yellow bot could not really comprehend what was so incredibly interesting about him. He was just sitting in his seat, trying to focus on whatever it was that the teacher was saying, even though it was proving to be quite difficult when he was feeling like someone was drilling through his helmet with their gaze. It was more than apparent that his classmates would be bombarding him with questions if it were not for the teacher being the room. But as soon as the lesson would let out he was bound to the get severely hassled by his so-called friends. Not to mention he would have to bear the weight of the rumours that had possibly spread through the whole student body during his absence.

"Hey, Hot Shot..." a voice from right behind the distraught bot whispered. It was easily recognized and Hot Shot briefly basked in the friendly feel of his friend addressing him before tilting his head backwards a bit and whispering back: "What is it?"

"Are you alright?" Sparky asked quietly, bringing a smile to Hot Shot's lips. The yellow bot still sighed, however, before replying: "Physically, yes. But I'm really not fond of all this staring I'm receiving."

"Aa, I can understand that", Sparky muttered at that, the clear annoyance in his friend's voice sounding comforting to Hot Shot. "It's almost dimsparked."

"We were both worried about you, Hot Shot", a third voice piped in as ComCom joined the whispered conversation. Hot Shot glanced briefly at his other best friend to see a flash of a sad smile before the small transformer continued: "It must have been...awful."

"Eee", Hot Shot started unsurely, noticing that the students sitting closest to their group were leaning closer in order to catch anything Hot Shot might say in response. "Can't this wait until after class?" Hot Shot finally asked weakly. "When there aren't people listening in?" As if burned every student jolted upward in their chairs, pretending to have been listening to the teacher's lecture all along. Sparky glared at them with vengeance.

"I definitely agree", he spoke from the side of his mouth. Hot Shot flashed him and ComCom a quick smile before turning to face the front of the class again. At that moment the yellow bot would not have wanted anything more than to get up from his seat, rush out of the classroom, find Optimus and let the autobot commander hold him for only the purpose of being held. But the yellow bot shook his head to rid himself of that thought. He was not some little kid anymore. He could handle this on his own, even if it seemed difficult that the moment.

2.

By the time the class finally ended Hot Shot was feeling emotionally exhausted and drained. And to make matters worse, the next subject on their timetable was combat skills, a class Hot Shot was not ready to face with the former teacher kidnapping him only a few days ago. The yellow bot was starting to seriously consider asking the headmaster to give him sick leave from the lessons; psychological trauma should have been a suitable enough ailment for it. But those thoughts were chased away from his mind when ComCom started dragging him down the hall by his arm. Hot Shot decided that skipping classes would make ComCom and Sparky worry too much. And besides, he was never going to get over this if he did not face his problem on his own.

"Hey, Hot Stuff", a voice suddenly snarled, causing ComCom and Hot Shot pause in their walking. Sparky was already facing the speaker that was coming up from behind them. Hot Shot turned around to see no other than SteelGlide and his two friends, the large Speedpainer and the winged SpiralBeam. SteelGlide had been the one to call out.

"You must be getting even more dysfunctional than you have been so far", Sparky shot nastily at the new arrivals. "If you can't even remember Hot Shot's name properly."

SteelGlide tilted his head in a dismissive gesture as he snapped back: "No one was talking to you, second class, or is your friend completely unable to fight his own battles now?" The red and white bot turned the glare of his green optics to Hot Shot. "Did that decepticon manage to knock you off that overly large pedestal you like to put yourself on?" Thin lips curled into a vicious snarl. "About time, I say. You were in the need of a little beating."

"Shut up!" Sparky snarled as he stepped closer to SteelGlide in a menacing manner. "No one's interested in what you have to say!"

ComCom's grip on Hot Shot's arm had tightened as he also glared at SteelGlide with animosity no one had known the timid bot to be capable of. Leaning forward to strengthen his words the blue transformer yelled: Exactly! Don't talk about things you know nothing about!"

A snort was the first response SteelGlide gave to the other two transformers. Then he smirked confidently and spoke, or rather, spat: "Well, I do know that your friend there is ready to run away crying."

Up to that point Hot Shot had simply observed the situation silently, knowing full-well that if SteelGlide decided to get physical he could take the other down. But he had not expected the other bot to use such personal matters as ammunition to satisfy his sick need to be better than Hot Shot at something. Even though Hot Shot was ready to take anything the delinquent was going to dish out at him, the last comment struck at something deep inside his spark. Something that had not been there before the whole kidnapping incident.

_'Cry for me a bit, child,'_ a faint memory replayed itself in Hot Shot's mind and suddenly the yellow bot did not see the school hallway around him but instead found himself once again in those terrible caverns below the planet's metal surfaces. In a flash ComCom, Sparky, SteelGlide and his gang vanished and Hot Shot saw the face of Meltdown, twisted into the maniacal grin he remembered all too well.

His breathing coming out in gasped puffs Hot Shot was completely absorbed in his memories. A scream broke out from between his lips as he lifted his hands up and began pummelling his fists into the face he had had nightmares about every single night. It never crossed his mind to wonder why this Meltdown was smaller in size and did not toss him aside with his greater strength. The only thing he registered was his own fear, as well as Cold Gaze's voice that cheered him on, telling him to kill and destroy.

Suddenly Hot Shot was unable to move his arms anymore. He blinked once, then twice, as suddenly the illusion shattered and he saw SteelGlide's face, or what was left of it, at any matter. The left optic had shattered completely, the sharp nose was twisted and the left cheek and chin were dented. Hot Shot stared at the damage the other bot had received and only after that did he realize that his breath was hitching from too much screaming and that his face was wet with energon tears that still continued to fall from his optics.

"Hot Shot!" ComCom's frightened voice called and Hot Shot's head snapped up to see both of his friends staring at him with something that resembled horror. Hot Shot glanced up to see who had grabbed his and for an instance he forgot how to breathe.

Optimus was holding onto Hot Shot's arms tightly, his optics bright with an unreadable emotion. Slowly, his grip on Hot Shot loosened and the yellow bot's arms dropped to his sides. Before Hot Shot had a chance to regret the loss of a possible source of comfort he was surrounded by a pair of strong arms. He did not fight it when Optimus embraced him, resting his head against the older bot's chest plate.

There were a lot of loud sounds around him but Hot Shot closed them off completely, focusing only on Optimus' voice, which was whispering pointless words to him to calm him down. Soon enough Hot Shot's tears stopped coming and he let out a relieved sigh. It was after that when Optimus pulled back, shifting his grip on Hot Shot's smaller frame. Before the yellow bot had a chance to ask what was going on he was up in the air, held tightly in Optimus' arms as the autobot commander took off down the corridor. Hot Shot only briefly realized that SteelGlide was gone; he had probably been taken down to the nurse's office. Optimus seemed to be taking Hot Shot to the opposite direction, however, seemingly heading straight for the headmaster's office.

It was only after the door had slid shut behind them that Hot Shot grasped onto the fact that he had indeed been taken to the headmaster's office. And Datamist did not seem to be at all surprised to see him there.

"What's going on?" he managed to question. "Why am I here?" He grew worried. "I'm not going to be suspended am I?"

"Oh, no, dear boy!" Datamist exclaimed with something akin to humour. "Nothing that extreme. There was simply something we needed to discuss but apparently the thing I wanted to talk about has presented itself on its own." The headmaster paused for a moment, giving Optimus an opportunity to lower Hot Shot to sit down on one of the chairs in the office. "Hot Shot, I have started to make arrangements for you to meet up with a therapist."

_**To be continued...**_

Ending Notes: It was bound to happen.


	27. Time of Recovering

**Hot Shot's Childhood**

**Chapter 27**

**Time of Recovering**

The headmaster clearly did not see the horrified expression that had come to Hot Shot's face as he started to speak again: "The need for counselling was of course to be expected. You have just finished going through a very traumatic experience, after all."

"I'm not crazy!" Hot Shot screeched suddenly, causing the headmaster to stare at him in something akin to wonder. Hot Shot had now gotten the attention of his audience and was not finished with his tirade yet. "You don't understand anything! I don't need a shrink, I don't want one!"

"Dear boy, no one has claimed you to be crazy", Datamist said, his expression growing grim. "This is a necessary precaution for the sake of the safety of both you and of those around you."

"You're saying I'm a crazy nutcase that needs to be locked away?" Hot Shot snapped heatedly, the question having a sharp enough edge to chop the man in front of the boy to pieces. But Datamist ignored the last outburst completely in favour of saying: "You will be arranged to meet a well accomplished expert, who will help you get over this experience and also guide you to take hold of normal life again."

"Normal life?" Hot Shot questioned heatedly, letting out a bitter laugh. "My life is far from normal, Mr headmaster. You don't know about half of the scrap I've been forced to endure! You have no idea what it's like to be me! No one understands!"

In the heat of his own emotions Hot Shot did not notice the other occupant of the room approach him until he was securely wrapped within strong arms. The ranting and yelling youth quieted down immediately, leaning into the by now familiar touch.

"Please, Hot Shot", Optimus whispered quietly. "It might help to soothe your pain. It kills me to see you suffer like this."

For the second time that day Hot Shot had tears blurring his vision. Small droplets of energon ran down his cheeks as he noticed that only in Optimus' arms he held no pain. Smiling for the first time since his ordeal had started Hot Shot spoke: "Optimus...I l-" Hot Shot did not even get halfway through with his sentence before he felt his head implode. The pain had his vision turning black as he screamed as loud as he could, but no sound came from his lips. The pain passed away quickly, leaving Hot Shot feeling strangely numb as a voice that sounded mistakably like his own spoke: "Let go of me! We don't need you and I. Don't. Want. You. Here!" The last word was screamed loudly as Cold Gaze yanked his body out of Optimus' arms. "Stay away from us!"

Hot Shot could still and hear what was happening, even though he had been reduced to a mere observer, as Cold Gaze continued to tell Optimus to never come near them again. But Optimus would not relent. No, he was actually looking at the child in front of him with new understanding, like he had suddenly gotten an answer to all of the questions he had ever asked.

There was a sudden wave of surprise from Cold Gaze when Optimus suddenly swept the yellow transformer into his arms, against his wide chest.

"You are such a gentle sparked person, Hot Shot", Optimus spoke quietly and suddenly Hot Shot could lift his hands to brush against the deep red armor. Somehow, possibly because of the shock, Cold Gaze had retreated back to his own spot right behind Hot Shot's own mind. Hoping against everything his common sense was telling him Hot Shot put his faith in Optimus, allowing himself to believe that the older bot knew what was wrong and would save him like before.

"Help me", Hot Shot whispered quietly, pleadingly, as he surrendered himself to the feeling of belonging Optimus had been able to awaken in him ever since they had first met.

1.

"Hello, you must be Hot Shot", a faint red femme bot started as soon as Hot Shot walked into the office-like room of the doctor he had been assigned to. "Go lie down, sweetie, I'll get to you as soon as I'm finished." The femme was currently sitting behind a computer, tapping furiously on the keyboard. Hot Shot did as was requested and went to sit down in the chair in front of the doctor's desk.

After a while the fast typing slowed down and ceased completely. Hot Shot sat perfectly still and watched the femme nervously as startling, bright green optics turned their attention to him. The femme gave a small smile as she started speaking: "I am doctor Sphere." She tapped on a single key on her keyboard and glanced briefly at the computer screen. "I know all about your case, Hot Shot. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. This is my speciality."

"I highly doubt that", Hot Shot muttered sceptically not sure if it had been him at all who had spoken the words. He had been a bit unsure about that ever since Cold Gaze faced off Optimus in the headmaster's office. After that event Hot Shot had said a lot of things that were straight from Cold Gaze's thoughts and he often found himself moving when he had not intended to. It had been going on for three days now.

"I specialize in harmonic sound waves", Sphere spoke like she had not heard Hot Shot's comment. "Do you know what harmonic sound does?"

Hot Shot shook his head, and briefly thought that ComCom would probably know.

Sphere studied Hot Shot for a brief moment before speaking: "Harmonic sound waves affect our sparks directly. I specialize in spark therapy. So you know what spark therapy does?"

"It's supposed to calm a person down, right?" Hot Shot replied, only slightly unsure of his response. Sphere nodded her head and continued: "But what I'm going to do for you is slightly different from normal spark therapy. I'm going to try to find a certain frequency that will have a conscious-dimming effect on your spark." The doctor gave Hot Shot a steady look. "I'm going to try to put the other you into sleep."

"W-what?" Hot Shot stuttered in amazement. "How do you know about that?"

"I told you that I know all about your case", Sphere replied as she clicked some more keys and looked at something on her computer screen. "I don't think you have been properly informed about your situation as of yet. Am I correct?" At Hot Shot's nod the femme started explaining: "As you surely know, a transformer's spark is created from the energy released at the collision of two sparks. But sometimes this energy charge is so strong that two sparks are born instead of just one, resulting in twin sparks. These sparks are supposed to be separated immediately to avoid the two personas melting together. Because the melting process is so fast, most transformer twins have easily predictable natures. While one of the twins is emotional and all in all a completely normal child then other one is emotionally deprived, unable to settle in among other children. Do you follow?" Once again the green optics focused on Hot Shot and the yellow bot nodded. "This is what has happened with you. You have two sparks instead of just one and they have melded together so that they are close to impossible to separate. But the other spark is unable to survive in the society so this separate entity is likely to cause you a lot of problems and grief in the future. This is why we will try to use harmonic sound waves to make the other spark go dormant."

Hot Shot listened to Sphere's explanation intently and as the femme finished he glanced down to his lap, deep in thought. So Cold Gaze was really his brother, twin brother at that. The yellow bot glanced up again to see Sphere getting up from her chair and walking across the office.

"Follow me", the doctor said and Hot Shot jumped down from his seat and scurried off after the red transformer. When he came to the femme's side he noticed that Sphere was a lot shorter than the other transformers he had encountered. She was only a head taller than Hot Shot. Sphere opened a door at the side of the room and lead Hot Shot into a smaller room that had a recharge bed on the one side and some equipment on the other side. Hot Shot suspected the equipment to be there to create the harmonic sounds the femme had been talking about all that time. But there was still one thing that bothered Hot Shot.

"Um...doctor?" Hot Shot started, bringing the gaze of the haunting green optics to himself. "You said the sound waves you will be trying to reach will put Cold Gaze to sleep. Won't it do the same to me?" That was something that really had Hot Shot on the edge. He did not want to fall into a sleep he might not wake up from. The red femme gave Hot Shot a reassuring smile as she responded: "Different sparks react to different sound levels. It has a lot to do with your personality which sound waves affect you. You couldn't possibly share a personality with the other spark so there is nothing to worry about. Just tell me if you start to feel strange or tired."

Hot Shot nodded his head and went to the recharge bed, climbing on top of it and lying down. That was one thing he did not need instructions for, even if everything else happening left him feeling at a loss. When his head hit the surface of the recharge bed he heard Sphere's softly muttered comment: "He named it, that is rather unusual."

"I didn't name Cold Gaze", Hot Shot cut in, wanting to the get that point across. "He told me his name himself." A curious and peculiar look came to Sphere's face at Hot Shot's words but the femme quickly went back to her professional self, smiling encouragingly at Hot Shot.

"I'm going to turn this thing on now, so just relax and tell me if something begins to feel different."

"Okay", Hot Shot said with a curt nod and then there was a click and a soft humming sound filled the room. It was not pleasant sound to Hot Shot; it made him feel like his head was about to explode.

"My head hurts..." the yellow bot mumbled weakly. There was a slight sound of recognition from Sphere and another click. This time Hot Shot did not hear a thing, suspecting the sound to be too high for his sensors to catch it. His head felt heavy and Hot Shot believed it to be because of the headache from moments ago. But then the heavy feeling spread to his arms and legs and he was beginning to get suspicious.

"Everything's heavy", Hot Shot commented with a slight groan. There was another click and soon Hot Shot felt energy returning to his frame. He felt strangely light-headed, like he had just eaten too much energon. A goofy smile plastered itself on his face as he spoke quietly: "I feel funny. Seriously funny."

"That's your pleasure-level, I suspect", Sphere commented and there was a yet another click. This was a sound Hot Shot could actually feel, even if only as a faint whizzing. And it made him feel strangely aware of everything around him, how the wall was not actually silvery but a dark shiny grey and how Sparky would have probably found the experience amusing.

"Hot Shot?" Sphere's voice came suddenly, snapping Hot Shot out of his musings. He turned his head to look at the femme as the doctor spoke: "Are you feeling alright? You're looking strange."

"I'm...fine", Hot Shot replied slowly, hesitating slightly when he realized how true that statement was. "Actually, I haven't felt like this before. Like everything is coming to focus for the first time ever..."

"Oh, good", Sphere commented as she leaned over her equipment. "That means we found the correct sound level. Now you just lie there quietly for a while and then you can go home."

Hot Shot nodded his head and turned his face back to the ceiling. He could not believe that after all this time it would be this easy to finally be rid of Cold Gaze.

2.

"Alright, how are you feeling now, Hot Shot?" Sphere asked as she was once again sitting behind her computer, tapping on the keyboard with startling speed. Hot Shot was sitting in front of the desk again and replied: "Fine. Completely like myself."

"That's good", Sphere muttered as she appeared to study something intently on the computer screen. "Now we need to schedule you a new time, hopefully in a few days."

"What? Why?" Hot Shot questioned, immediately growing worried. "I thought this was it!"

"Of course it wasn't, dear", Sphere said in that calming manner of hers that Hot Shot had grown accustomed to during his time in the office and in the back room. "The treatment has to be repeated every few days for a while for it to have any effect in the long run. Spark therapy results are only temporary if you participate in it only a couple of times. This treatment might take a while to truly have any effect, understand?"

Hot Shot nodded his head at the explanation and questioned: "So, when do I need to come again?"

"The day after tomorrow, after your lessons. Will that do?" Hot Shot nodded his head again and Sphere continued: "Then that takes care of that. Every other day after your lessons you will come here for a few hours of therapy and then you're free for the rest of the day." She tapped on her keyboard and looked up to give Hot Shot a bright smile. "See you then, Hot Shot."

"Right", Hot Shot said, standing up from his chair. After a moment's hesitation he quickly uttered: "Thank you", and rushed out the door.

Sphere stared after her patient for a long while before turning her attention back to her computer. As she began typing once more a single word escaped from between her lips: "Interesting..."

3.

"So", Sparky started after the trio had managed to get their homework done. "How did it go?"

Hot Shot looked at Sparky's expectant face for a moment and then glanced over at ComCom, who was mirroring the expression. Hot Shot gave a slight shrug and replied: "Well, I guess. The doctor said that she needs to repeat the treatment every two days to make the effect permanent. It might take a while but in the long run it should rid me of Cold Gaze."

"I thought you were sent there because of the...thing", Sparky waved his hand. "You know."

"I thought so too", Hot Shot admitted. "But they apparently recognized the signs and realized that I had a problem with an extra spark." Hot Shot smiled softly, a bit sadly. "It can't be removed since it's so closely melded with my own but the treatment should make it dormant so that Cold Gaze won't be popping up every now and then."

"So all is well now?" ComCom said brightly, his tone colored by a hopeful tone. Hot Shot gave another shrug before replying: "Not yet, but who knows what happens later on? Maybe there will some day be a way to completely remove Cold Gaze's spark. Or maybe the harmonic sound waves will put him to sleep for good."

ComCom nodded eagerly at Hot Shot and then cheered: "Lets hope for the best!"

"Yeah", Sparky agreed with a wide grin. "I mean, weirder things have happened. And even within a short period of time." He stood up and stretched his arms far above his head. Hot Shot chose not to comment how the dark bot had claimed such gestures unnecessary at the beginning of the year and merely stuck with sharing a knowing smile with ComCom as Sparky climbed up into his bunk.

"Good night", the black transformer uttered and Hot Shot and ComCom chorused the words. Then Hot Shot leaned slightly closer to ComCom and spoke softly: "How was the day for you two?"

"Same old", ComCom responded vaguely. "We discussed the optional courses we were planning to take next year. We're both going to be phoning home tomorrow to talk to our parents about it." A small laugh escaped from the blue bot. "Naturally we fought a bit, but it was nothing major this time." At that the shorter transformer stood up. "Night, Hot Shot." Then he went over to his own bed and crawled in. With nothing else to do Hot Shot followed his lead and lied down on his own bed on the other side of the room. He stared at the ceiling for a long time, deep in thought. He was so different from ComCom and Sparky. They both had at least one parent, and they could live their lives like normal kids. Anything strange that had happened to them had happened because of Hot Shot. The yellow bot bit his lip guiltily.

Poor Hot Shot, that was what everyone always thought. Poor child, with no parents or anyone to care for him. Hot Shot rolled over to his side, facing the wall as energon tears gathered in his optics. He had no one to turn to when it came to choosing the courses for the fourth grade. And the forms were supposed to be returned in a few days. Hot Shot clenched his hand into a tight fist. He felt so lonely. Even Cold Gaze's ever present looming was gone, replaced by a strange empty feeling. Was this what it felt like to be lonely?

_**To be continued...**_


End file.
